Taoist Works Cited
The Yin Convergence Classic (Yinfujing). Included in Vitality, Energy, Spirit: A Taoist Sourcebook, translated and edited by Thomas Cleary, from Shambhala Publications.
Tao Te Ching
The Masters of Huainan (Huainanzi). A condensed translation of this text appears in The Book of Leadership and Strategy: Lessons of the Chinese Masters translated by Thomas Cleary, from Shambhala Publications.
The Book of Balance and Harmony (Zhonghoji), translated by Thomas Cleary, from North Point Press.
I Ching Studies
Material from and about the I Ching is excerpted from two translations by Thomas Cleary: I Ching: The Tao of Organization and I Ching Mandalas (both from Shambhala Publications).
For background on Liu Ji I used the Ming dynastic history and other standard reference works. For background on the Buddhist rebellions in which the Ming dynasty had its early roots, I am indebted to the extensive historical introduction of J. C. Cleary’s Zibo: China’s Last Great Zen Master. For corroboration of Liu Ji’s recitals and other historical documentation, I am also indebted to Li Zhi’s Hidden Documents (Zang shu) and Hidden Documents Continued (Xu zang shu). The stories with Liu Ji’s introductions that are translated in the present volume are drawn from Extraordinary Strategies in a Hundred Battles (Baizhan qilue), evidently the most popular of Liu’s many literary works. The excerpt from his work The Cultured One is from Liu’s Youlizi. Liu’s poems are translated from Chengyibo wenshu. For background on Zhuge Liang I used Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo zhi), a court history of that era; Tales of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo yanyi), a much later historical novel about the civil wars of the time, written from a very different point of view than the court history on which it is based; and Works by and about the Loyal Lord at Arms (Zhongwuhou ji), a study of Zhuge Liang found in the Taoist canon. The translations from Zhuge’s writings contained in this volume are taken from collections of his essays, letters, and poetry included verbatim in the aforementioned study of his life and work in the Taoist canon.
Besides Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Liu Ji also quotes the following sources for his rules of battle:
“Book of the Latter Han Dynasty” (Houhan shu)
“Dialogues of Li, Lord of Wei” (Li Weigong wenda)
“Sima’s Rules” or “Sima’s Art of War” (Sima bingfa)
“Six Secrets” (Liutao)
“Three Strategies” (Sanlue)
“Zuo Family Tradition on the Spring and Autumn Annals” (Zuochuan)