Use when managing succession planning or resolving heir disputes. Covers legitimate succession order (父死子继, 兄死弟及), virtuous deviation protocols including the ritual of three refusals (三让), warning signs of succession crisis, and best practices from Song Xuan Gong's example.

Use when establishing governance over newly conquered or acquired territory. Based on Zhou Gong's advice to Kang Shu for ruling former Shang lands: seek local wisdom, study prior regime failures, practice benevolent rule, establish legal frameworks, and appoint virtuous officials.

Use when performing solemn divination rituals to seek ancestral guidance for critical decisions. Follows Zhou Gong's model: sacred space preparation, jade disc and gui tablet adornment, oracle bone consultation, and sealed documentation in golden chest.

Use when mobilizing troops, establishing military authority, or enforcing battlefield discipline. Covers the ritualized oath procedure with 黄钺 and 白旄 symbols, troop assembly, consequence announcements, and campaign execution.

Use when calculating calendars, determining seasonal timing, or establishing the correct 正朔. Covers leap month intercalation using the 19-year Metonic cycle, solstice measurement via shadow length (晷景), and dynastic calendar differences.

Use when planning irrigation canals, flood control, or water resource management for agriculture. Applies Yu's principle of channeling over blocking (疏导优于堵塞) and includes the Zheng Guo Canal case study.

Use when analyzing feudal power structures or ranking noble titles. Classifies ranks using the Zhou dynasty five-tier system (公侯伯子男) and determines appropriate land grants based on merit, lineage, and strategic need.

Use when building chronological tables (世表, 年表, 月表) to organize historical events across dynasties. Synchronizes multiple polities, marks gaps, and adds commentary on patterns of rise and fall (兴坏之端).

Use when navigating a hostile banquet, diplomatic ambush, or dangerous political gathering. Guides escape from the Hongmen Banquet (鸿门宴) scenario using alliances, deference, and covert withdrawal.

Use when commanding troops in a decisive battle requiring total commitment. Applies the 破釜沉舟 (break cauldrons, sink boats) technique to eliminate retreat, limit provisions to 3 days, and force maximum engagement. Based on Xiang Yu at Julu (钜鹿之战).

Use when a new ruler inherits a troubled state and must restore stability. Covers personnel reform (任忠贤), correcting predecessor's wrongs (正先帝之过), economic relief (发仓廪/轻赋), legal simplification (约法/省刑), and moral governance.

Use when abolishing the posthumous title system (谥法) to prevent subjects from judging rulers. Establishes sequential numbering from 始皇帝 onward as an alternative naming convention. Abolished by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BCE.

Use when creating a new imperial title or establishing governance terminology for a unified empire. Guides council deliberation, historical precedent review, title composition (皇帝), imperial terminology (制/诏/朕), and succession numbering from 始皇帝 onward.

Use when standardizing education or controlling historical narratives across a unified empire. Categorizes texts for destruction vs. exemption, establishes enforcement timelines and punishments, and redirects education through officials (以吏为师).

Use when recovering from a major military defeat or rebuilding forces after a loss. Based on Duke Mu's response to the Xiao defeat, covers personal accountability, commander restoration, public acknowledgment, and rebuilding strategy.

Use when performing state sacrificial rituals (畤) to establish religious legitimacy or mark significant occasions. Guides altar preparation, sacrificial animal selection (三牢), ritual conduct, and event documentation. Based on Qin's sacrificial traditions.

Use when implementing comprehensive legal, agricultural, or military reforms in a stagnating state. Based on Shang Yang's reforms in Qin, covers public talent recruitment, reform debate, equal law enforcement, and institutionalization of merit-based systems.

Use when deciding whether to provide famine aid to a rival state. Balances humanitarian and strategic interests by consulting multiple advisors, weighing long-term diplomatic reputation against short-term military opportunity. Based on Qin's aid to Jin.

Use when advising a ruler or selecting a remonstrance strategy. Offers four methods from metaphorical instruction (伊尹) to strategic withdrawal (箕子), with assessment criteria for ruler receptiveness and warning signs of a failed state.

Use when establishing regional administrative divisions or designing taxation and tribute systems. Divides territory into nine provinces (州) with soil classification, graduated tax rates, tribute specifications, and water-route transport planning.