shiji-kb

Use when designing a tiered reward system for contributions or ranking officials by merit. Classifies service into four tiers: moral guidance (封邑 grants), administrative execution (卿位 titles), military labor, and routine service, allocating rewards systematically from highest to lowest.

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 interpreting Zhou Yi (I Ching) hexagram readings or analyzing divination results. Covers hexagram transformation (本卦 to 之卦), line text analysis, fulfillment location and timing determination, and clan affiliation prediction, as demonstrated in Chen Li Gong's divination.

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 resolving major governance doubts through multi-source consultation. Combines turtle shell (卜) and milfoil (筮) divination with ruler deliberation, ministerial advice, and popular sentiment to reach decisions ranked by consensus level.

Use when applying systematic governance frameworks or structuring state administration. Covers Jizi's Hong Fan (洪范) Nine Categories presented to King Wu of Zhou: Five Elements, Five Matters, Eight Government Functions, chronological methods, royal perfection, Three Virtues, divination, omens, and blessings.

Use when analyzing last-resort strategies against existential threats where all conventional and diplomatic options have failed. Covers agent recruitment, pretext creation, close-range execution, and critical risk assessment of retaliatory consequences.

Use when organizing a multi-party coalition against a dominant threat. Covers envoy dispatch, resource gifting, securing key partners first, establishing coordination structures, and cementing alliances through marriage or exchange in Warring States diplomatic tradition.

Use when assessing whether to attack a seemingly weakened adversary. Provides a risk-assessment framework covering hidden enemy strengths, battle-hardened populations, diplomatic consequences, and multi-advisor consultation to avoid costly miscalculations.

Use when designing governance systems that ensure fair access to justice across all social levels. Covers territorial tours, open-air administration, and prompt dispute resolution following the model of rulers who personally judged cases under trees.

Use when recruiting capable individuals or rebuilding a team after setbacks. Demonstrates how symbolic gestures of respect, generous incentives, and shared hardship attract talent from afar, following Warring States recruitment principles.

Use when advising leaders on self-discipline, virtue maintenance, or preventing institutional decline. Applies Zhou Gong's teachings to King Cheng with models from Yin dynasty rulers like Zhong Zong, Gao Zong, and Zu Jia to identify habits that sustain or destroy long-term rule.

Use when determining proper succession order or preventing political instability from improper succession. Applies Fan Zhongshan's counsel to King Xuan: eldest-first principle, chain of consequences from violation, and the teaching effect on subjects.

Use when choosing between transformative and adaptive governance for a new territory. Compares Bo Qin's 3-year reform approach in Lu with Taigong's 5-month adaptive method in Qi, guided by the principle: 政不简不易，民不近.

Use when issuing pre-battle proclamations, enforcing military discipline, or organizing logistics. Based on Bo Qin's oath at Bi: covers equipment inspection, rules of conduct (no looting, return lost property), supply requirements, and enforcement penalties.

Use when attracting talented advisors or demonstrating respect for worthy individuals. Follows Zhou Gong's practice of interrupting meals and baths to receive scholars (一沐三握发, 一饭三吐哺) to prevent losing capable people.

Use when transitioning power from a regent to a young ruler coming of age. Follows Zhou Gong's model: south-facing authority during regency, formal return of power at maturity, and north-facing minister position post-transition.

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 strategic factors favor action but divination or omens suggest failure. Applies Taigong's counsel at the Battle of Muye: assess enemy vulnerability and cause justice independently of superstitious signs to avoid paralysis.

Use when responding to urgent warnings about missed opportunities or overcoming complacency. Applies Taigong's innkeeper lesson: 时难得而易失 (timing is hard to gain and easy to lose) — act immediately through the night if necessary.

Use when deciding whether to honor agreements made under duress or coercion. Applies Duke Huan of Qi's model: fulfilling coerced promises to build long-term diplomatic credibility rather than seeking short-term revenge (愈一小快耳).

Use when vetting subordinates or appointees for trustworthiness. Applies Guan Zhong's humanity test (非人情) to identify dangerous individuals who violate natural bonds — parental, family, and self-preservation — to gain power.

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 governing newly acquired territories or managing diverse populations. Applies Taigong's (Jiang Ziya) four-step method: adapt to local customs (因其俗), simplify rituals (简其礼), develop commerce (通商工之业), and leverage resources (便鱼盐之利).

Use when designing a multi-step succession sequence to transfer leadership to a designated heir. Models King Shoumeng of Wu's brother-to-brother chain (寿梦→诸樊→余祭→余眜→季札) with safeguards for refusal.