June is a significant month in China, as it is when the state university entrance exams take place. In Beijing over 80,000 participated in this highly competitive event on the June 7/8 weekend. Prior to the exams the media carried a wealth of brainstorming suggestions as to how examinees might perform to the best of their ability, one of which struck a particular chord in me. It encouraged participants to focus their time and energy on consolidating their strong subjects, rather than waste time on laborious revision of those at which they had low aptitude in the hope of scoring a few extra points.

Next year's examinees might consider this advice in the light of the ancient tale of the strategy employed by General Tian Ji in his annual horse race with the Lord of Qi.

The story goes that the Lord of Qi and General Tian Ji held a horse race every year. They selected three horses each that ran in pairs for three races. The owner of two out of three of the winners got a trophy. The Lord of Qi would consistently win as each of his horses ran a little faster than the General's. One year, shortly before the race, General Tian Ji was at a loss as to how he might win the trophy from his Lord. Well-known strategist Sun Bin called to see him at this time, and on the General telling him about the race, his advice was to alter the racing sequence of his horses. The General accordingly pitted his third horse against the Lord's first -- a race he was bound to lose. He then he raced his first horse against the Lord's second, and won, and paired his second horse with the Lord's third, winning again. He thus won two of the three races and collected the trophy for the first time.

What is the story's message? It indicates the importance of choosing the correct strategy for any kind of trial or test. In this case, it should first be clarified that the Lord's three horses always ran respectively faster than the General's when in a preset order of first against first through to third against third. The Lord's first horse was the best and unbeatable, but his second was probably no better than the General's first, and his third certainly no better than the General's second. This being the case, the General was certain to lose at least one race no matter which of his three horses he matched against the Lord's first. So this time he changed his racing order, pairing his slowest horse with the Lord's fastest. He thus purposely lost one race, but won the other two and the overall victory. The strategy was that of being prepared to lose in order to win, whereby a small sacrifice is paid in order to achieve the greater glory. This is the superficial message, but on looking deeper another more subtle truth emerges. It is that of making the most of strengths and weaknesses according to the demands of any specific situation. This requires intelligence, but also the courage to create advantages out of disadvantages. The strategy also constitutes a warning against mechanical conformity to routinized logic, advocating instead stepping off the beaten track.

At this point I am reminded of Lao Zi's philosophy on a similar theme. In his Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) about the way and its power, he prescribes a series of metaphoric strategies. In Chapter 36, for instance, he arrives at the conclusion: "In order to take, it is necessary first to give." The contemporary interpretation of this is that initial giving is expedient to the ultimate end of taking. It may often be observed that an ostensible giver is actually one who has enough patience to wait and take the lion's share when the time is ripe, like a fisherman using a tiny worm to hook a big fish. In this way, he is prepared to give a little at first in order to take more later on, as with General Tian Ji, who was prepared to lose the first race in order to win the following two.

In the same chapter, Lao Zi says: "In order to contract, it is necessary first to expand. In order to weaken, it is necessary first to strengthen. In order to destroy, it is necessary first to promote ...This is called Subtle Light (wei ming)." These ideas could be based on empirical observations and life experience. A flower, for instance, will naturally wither, or contract, after fully blossoming. Conversely, an inchworm draws itself together, contracting its body in order to gather strength, when about to stretch out and expand, thereby advancing its body. Lizards and snakes hibernate -- a contraction of movement in winter -- in order to preserve life until expanding into vitality in spring. It is therefore assumed in The Great Treatise on The Book of Changes that "contraction and expansion act upon each other; hereby arises that which furthers." This dialectical speculation indicates that everything has two aspects that are in a state of continuous opposition and mutual transformation. On one developing to its acme, it will inevitably transmute to its opposite. This assertion also suggests a strategy that may be applicable to personal development in today's complicated social environment. Very often we are confronted with the dilemma of whether to contract -- to retreat or take no action -- or to expand -- to advance and act. This means weighing up which will bring the greater benefit. As for the interrelationship between weakening and strengthening, it follows a similar logic to that of destroying and promoting. In today's ruthlessly competitive business world, for example, tricks are played and traps are set. Someone might be promoted specifically to handle a thorny task, but on accomplishing it and starting to plan a bright future, be kicked out or cast aside on the pretext that the task in question is no longer relevant. They might also be promoted for the sole purpose of expediting something no one else wants to take responsibility for, like getting rid of another operative, or signing a contract that offends a longstanding client or associate.

Such strategies prevail in the political arena, and Lao Zi himself has been described as a political conspirator. Certain scholars argue that this interpretation is based on a purposely conventional misreading or misconception. It is only feasible on the premise that each reader forms his own image of Lao Zi in the light of personal opinions and contemporary parallels to his philosophy. These are, and will continue to be, relevant to any period of history. Lao Zi appears to focus on such dialectical interactions in order to illustrate his concept of the inexorable transformations of opposites. But he is actually more concerned about natural phenomena than human affairs, as he consistently seeks to demonstrate how the Dao of Heaven or the natural law works in binary or bipolar situations. Citing him as a conspirator in any negative sense is hence groundless. Furthermore, through Lao Zi's perspective it is possible to gain insight into the natural movement and transformational features of all things. As already observed, that given is a facet of that taken; expansion signals the imminence of contraction; and promotion can be at the root of destruction. Similarly, the strong grows out of the weak; and abundance is harbinger of decline. Both natural phenomena and human affairs develop and change in this dialectically inevitable fashion. What Lao Zi calls the Subtle Light (wei ming) may be the kind of practical wisdom displayed by General Tian Ji, meaning the pragmatism necessary for self-achievement and self-development. The rich store of such wisdom within Chinese philosophy should be explored and rediscovered in the contemporary socio-cultural context.

WANG KEPING is vice director of the Institute for Transcultural Studies under the Beijing Second Foreign Languages University.