Stratagem (ancient Greek στρατήγημα "military cunning")
is a term used in the European tradition to translate a Chinese concept denoting a skillful plan or calculation. This is a sequence of actions aimed at achieving a hidden goal or solving a problem.
The Thirty-Six Stratagems is a unique monument of Chinese military thought. The text, found in a little-known magazine and rewritten by Yu Dexuan, was first published in 1941. The first full translation into Russian was made by V.V. Malyavin.
In The classic military treatise Sun Tzu (5th-4th centuries BC) formulated the key principle: "The main thing is to make yourself invincible, and not to force the enemy to submit." This wisdom, honed during the Warring States period (475-221 BC) and the Three Kingdoms era (220-280), formed the basis of stratagem thinking.
Ancient Chinese strategic teachings are based on simple truths. While the Western tradition often emphasizes direct confrontation, Eastern thinking relies on strategies that allow you to win before the battle begins - to win without entering it. Each stratagem contains historical experience that helps you learn to evaluate events "as a whole."
The treatise "36 Stratagems" is closely connected with the most ancient monument of Chinese thought - the "Book of Changes" (I Ching), consisting of 64 symbols (hexagrams) denoting a certain life situation and its development over time. According to ancient Chinese ideas, true military art lies not in the number of techniques, but in the ability to apply basic principles to an infinite number of situations. Stratagems teach flexibility of thinking and the ability to find non-obvious solutions, which is especially valuable in the modern world, where direct confrontation often leads to mutual defeat. History has preserved many examples when the wise application of these principles made it possible to achieve a goal without a destructive conflict, and a correct understanding of the situation turned out to be more important than military superiority.
Elena Poletaeva.
Author of the collection of paintings "Chinese stratagems".
ELENA POLETAEVA
Member of the Professional
Union of Artists of Russia
Poletaeva Elena was born on December 25, 1983 years in Vladivostok.Studied at humanitarian school No. 12, went to a circle of fine arts with E. V. Yumatova.In 1994 - 1998. studied at art school No. 5 at the art department in the group of Oshchepkov V.S. In 1997 -2001 .she studied at the Vladivostok Art College (department of design), graduated with honors.Worked as a painter, artist-designer, illustrator, 3D modeler and visualizer with customers from Russia, Australia, America, Ukraine and Japan.
Elena leads the exhibition She has been active since 1998. By 2019, she participated in 29 exhibitions, 9 of which were solo exhibitions. Her paintings are divided into thematic collections: “Breaks of Consciousness”, “Not Children's Drawings”, “Useful and Bad Habits”, “Signs”, “Creative erotica”, “Strange landscapes”, “Dreams”, “Sky”, “Non-random passers-by”, "Totem","Chinese stratagems".
The idea of creating a collection of stratagems came to me unexpectedly. I was offered an order for illustrations for Chinese stratagems in a very short time. I refused the order, but I was very carried away by this topic. The translation of Malyavin's book"Thirty-six Stratagems " served as a starting point in China's past and the very essence of strategic thinking. This journey took 6 years and taught me a lot in the professional and personal sphere. I believe that the main thing in the artist's work is the theme, and not the development of a certain technique of performance. If there is an idea in the work, then it should serve as a key to learning a new technology for its execution, and not vice versa. So it happened with the collection of stratagems. I developed for myself a technique that combined Asian and European painting traditions. It was important for me not just to illustrate fragments of the past, but to endow each picture with its own special meaning and symbolism. The purpose of this series is to show a figurative display of the wisdom of Ancient China, in order to help understand, using the example of a thousand-year history of wars, that the main thing in a conflict is "Make yourself invincible, and not force the enemy to submit to you".
Technique paper, watercolor, size 100x70 cm.
I believe that art should be international and accessible to everyone.