Bamboo slips authenticated two of this subject’s seven “classics,” the Six Secret Teachings and the Wèi Liáozǐ (“way lee-OW-dzuh”), the second of which stresses the influence of comets. For 10 points each:
[10m] Name this counterpart of an administrative sphere called wén (“wun”). A manual for this subject advises “chaining” some of its 36 case studies, which include one about a supposedly empty city credited to Zhūgě Liàng (“joo-guh lee-ahng”).
ANSWER: military strategy [or strategies or stratagems; or jì or zhànlüè; accept tactics or tactical manuals; accept warfare, military treatises, war treatises, conflict, battle, sieges, counterattacks, wǔjīng, zhànlüè, or equivalents; accept Thirty-Six Stratagems or Sānshíliù Jì; accept Seven Military Classics or Wǔjīngqīshū or Wu ching ch’i shu; prompt on violence or harm or equivalents; prompt on tricks, ruses, deceptions, or equivalents] (The slips were found in the Yínquèshān Hàn tombs. Wén is contrasted with wǔ.)
[10e] A supposed descendant of this strategist “besieged Wèi (“way”) to rescue Zhào (“jow”)” at the Battle of Guìlíng (“gway-leeng”). He is credited with The Art of War.
ANSWER: Sun Tzu [or Sūnzǐ (“swun-dzuh”); or Syunzi; or Chángqīng or Ch’ang-ch’ing; accept Sūn Bìn or Sun Pin]
[10h] A teen girl descended from Cáo Cāo’s (“tsow tsow’s”) strategist Xún Yù (“shwin yew”) relieved a siege after this group of regents for the disabled emperor Huì (“hway”) wrecked Western Jìn. This group’s civil war led to 311’s infamous Xiōngnú (“shong-noo”) sack of Luòyáng (“lwoh-yahng”).
ANSWER: Eight Princes [or Eight Kings, Eight Monarchs, Bā Wáng, or Pa Wang; accept War of the Eight Princes, Rebellion of the Eight Kings, Chaos of the Eight Kings, Bā Wáng Zhī Luàn, or equivalents of any] (The Jìn History reports the story of Xún Guàn. Shí Lè led Hàn Zhào’s attack on Luòyáng.)
<Other History>