Ep. 336 | Guiguzi, The Sage of Ghost Valley

09/17/23 • 45 min

Written into the ancient histories were the big-name Warring States characters Su Qin, Zhang Yi, Sun Bin, and Pang Juan. Sima Qian and others remarked that these four men were all students of Guiguzi 鬼谷子. He's like a lot of figures from Bronze Age China. Guiguzi's name is mentioned in a few important texts. But that's about it. Just his name and the barest of details. Over the centuries, scholars put some flesh on those bones, but the truth remains, there's not much to sink our teeth into as far as Guiguzi the person is concerned. But the stories associated with Guiguzi are good ones and worth a re-telling. Su Qin and Zhang Yi's Vertical and Horizontal Strategies, and the story of Sun Bin, Pang Juan and Sun Bin's Art of War. The Guiguzi is considered China's first work of rhetoric. It's interesting to see how rhetoric developed in Warring States China at the exact same time as Plato and Aristotle in Greece. Somewhere along the way though, The Guiguzi became better known as a military treatise. Thanks everyone for listening.

Hui Wu’s “Guiguzi, China’s First Treatise on Rhetoric, A Critical Translation and Commentary.” Find it here: https://a.co/d/9RV6k8U

谋圣鬼谷子 For the Holy Guiguzi video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvDuSJ8imKg&list=PLy8WDOJkSFFz92BEhcYXmYdm0tWAZXnLw

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Hui Wu’s “Guiguzi, China’s First Treatise on Rhetoric, A Critical Translation and Commentary.” Find it here: https://a.co/d/9RV6k8U

谋圣鬼谷子 For the Holy Guiguzi video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvDuSJ8imKg&list=PLy8WDOJkSFFz92BEhcYXmYdm0tWAZXnLw

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Previous Episode

S8E05 | Shock the Monkey

Lovers of all things Song Dynasty will surely recall the story of Qin Hui. He has top billing in this tale concerning the story behind Shù Dǎo Húsūn Sàn 树倒猢狲散. This one has practical applications these days when we see political and corporate leaders fall from grace. When that happens, we often get to view the spectacle of hangers-on and sycophants scattering and heading for the hills, to search once more for someone to suck up to. This Chinese Saying comes in handy when this happens. We all need someone to lean on. Make sure the one you choose has some staying power.

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Next Episode

S8E06 | Looks can be deceiving

For the second time this season, we refer to Zuo Qiuming's "Chronicles of Zuo" for another good and useful chengyu. This one takes place in the Spring and Autumn Period and concerns a haughty self-important minister from Jin State stopping for the night at an inn in Ningyi (河南宁邑). He left quite an impression on the innkeeper there but when this simple innkeeper looked more closely at this official, he saw he was Huá Ér Bù Shí 华而不实. Enjoy this ancient story and learn a new Chinese Saying too.

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