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三十六计 Thirty-Six Stratagems: 瞒天过海 Fool the Emperor to Cross the Sea

  This stratagem references an episode in 643 AD, when  Emperor Taizong of Tang (唐太宗 tánɡtàizōnɡ), balked from crossing the sea to a campaign against Koguryo. His general  Xue Rengui (薛仁贵 Xuē Rénɡuì)  thought of a stratagem to get the emperor across and allay his fear of seasickness: on a clear day, the emperor was invited to meet a wise man. They entered through a dark tunnel into a hall wher they feasted. After feasting several days, the Emperor heard the sound of waves and realised that he had been lured onto a ship! General Xue drew aside the curtains to reveal the ocean and confessed that they had already crossed the sea: Upon discovering this, the emperor decided to carry on and later completed the successful campaign.

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Chinese Myth Figures 中国神话人物 08 Town God 城隍

The town god, or  "Cheng Huang" in Chinese, is a local guardian god of ghostdom according to Taoism. It was originated from sacrificial practices in ancient times. "Cheng" originally refers to high wall built with earth, while "Huang" refers to dry moat outside a city wall. The ancient people built city walls to guard the safety of people in town, and therefore there appeared high ramparts, towers, gates, city walls and moat. In their minds, god appeared in everything closely related to people’s life and safe production, for which the city wall and moat were sanctified as the guardian of the town. Moreover, since the town god holds a position equal to mayor in real world, people’s worship to the town god has evolved along with the development of city.

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