Flowers Blooming on a Tree

Deck the Tree with False Blossoms Borrow the existing situation to deploy one’s own formation: though one’s strength is weak, one’s momentum may appear mighty. It is like the wild goose alighting on the land—its feathers can serve as ornaments for ceremonial regalia, adding dignity and awe. The core lies not in an instantaneous increase of substantive strength, but in borrowing momentum and disguising appearances so that outward momentum exceeds actual strength, thereby influencing the opponent’s judgment. Allusion:In 284 BC, Yue Yi, general of Yan, led a five-state allied army to crush Qi and took more than seventy cities in succession, leaving Qi with only the two cities of Ju and Jimo. After Tian Dan was chosen as the defender of Jimo, he first used a stratagem of sowing discord to make King Hui of Yan replace Yue Yi; then, by feigned surrender and bribery, he made the Yan army relax its vigilance, and had the old, the weak, women, and children mount the walls to defend while hiding the able-bodied armored soldiers. When the moment was ripe, he collected more......