Capture the Leader to Defeat the Band

“Qín zéi qín wáng” zhè jù huà, zuì zǎo chū zì Tángdài dà shīrén Dù Fǔ de shī: “shè rén xiān shè mǎ, qín zéi xiān qín wáng.”

The phrase "capture the leader to defeat the band" first appeared in a poem by the great Tang poet Du Fu: "to shoot a man, first shoot his horse; to catch bandits, first catch their king."

Ān Shǐ zhī luàn shí, pànjiàng Yǐn Zǐqí shuàilǐng shí jǐ wàn dàjūn, wéigōng Tángcháo de jūnshì zhòngzhèn Suīyáng.

During the An Lushan Rebellion, the rebel general Yin Ziqi led an army of over a hundred thousand to besiege Suiyang, a key Tang military stronghold.

Shǒujiàng Zhāng Xún bīnglì yuǎn shǎo yú pànjūn, chéng zhōng liángcǎo yě jiànjiàn bù jì, xíngshì wànfēn wēijí.

The defending general Zhang Xu had far fewer troops than the rebels, and the city's supplies were running low; the situation was desperate.

Zhāng Xún shēn zhī: pànjūn rén duō shì zhòng, ruò néng xiān chú diào zhǔjiàng Yǐn Zǐqí, pànjūn biàn huì bù zhàn zì luàn.

Zhang Xu knew well: the rebels were many and strong; if he could first eliminate their commander Yin Ziqi, the rebel army would fall into disorder without a fight.

Nán de shì, Yǐn Zǐqí yìzhí shēn jū jūn zhōng, shǒu chéng de jiàngshì bìng bù rènshi tā zhǎng de shénme yàng.

The hard part was that Yin Ziqi stayed deep within his army, and the defenders did not even know what he looked like.

Yúshì Zhāng Xún xīn shēng yí jì, mìnglìng shǒujūn gǎiyòng xiāo jiān de cǎo gān dāng zuò jiàn, cháo dí zhèn shè qù.

So Zhang Xu devised a trick: he ordered the defenders to shoot sharpened grass stalks instead of arrows, toward the enemy lines.

Zhòng jiàn de pànbīng yí kàn shì “cǎo jiàn”, yǐwéi chéng zhōng yǐjīng méiyǒu zhēn jiàn le, liánmáng pǎo qù xiàng Yǐn Zǐqí bào gōng.

When the rebel soldiers who were hit saw they were "grass arrows," they assumed the city had run out of real arrows, and hurried to report this to Yin Ziqi.

Yǐn Zǐqí tīng le shífēn déyì, biàn qīnzì gǎn dào zhèn qián chákàn, zhènghǎo bàolù le zìjǐ de wèizhi.

Pleased, Yin Ziqi came in person to the front to see for himself—exactly exposing where he stood.

Zhāng Xún děng de jiù shì zhè yí kè, lìkè shìyì shénjiànshǒu Nán Jìyún fàng jiàn, yí jiàn zhèng zhòng Yǐn Zǐqí de zuǒ yǎn.

This was the moment Zhang Xu had been waiting for: he at once signaled the master archer Nan Jiyun to shoot, and a single arrow struck Yin Ziqi squarely in the left eye.

Zhǔjiàng zhòngshāng, pànjūn dùnshí qún lóng wú shǒu, zhèn jiǎo dà luàn; zhè jiùshì “qín zéi qín wáng” —— xiān ná xià duìfāng de héxīn, qíyú de biàn huì bù gōng zì pò.

With their commander gravely wounded, the rebel army was suddenly left without a leader and fell into chaos. This is "capture the leader to defeat the band": first take out the other side's core, and the rest will collapse on its own.

Shēnghuó zhōng yě shì rúcǐ: jiā lǐ diànqì tūrán jiēlián chū wèntí, xiān zhǎo chū zǒng kāiguān huò zhǔyào máobìng, qítā de chángcháng gēnzhe jiějué.

It is the same in life: when several appliances at home act up one after another, first find the main switch or the main fault, and the rest often get solved along with it.

Tā tíxǐng wǒmen: miànduì yì duī máfan, bú yào bèi zhījié chán zhù, xiān rènzhǔn zuì guānjiàn de nà yí ge, wǎngwǎng yì tōng bǎi tōng.

It reminds us: faced with a pile of troubles, don't get tangled in the side issues; first identify the most crucial one, and often everything else falls into place.