“Besieging Wei to Rescue Zhao” is the second of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, belonging to the category of “Stratagems for Winning.” Its core idea is to avoid the enemy’s strength and strike at its weakness, targeting a critical point to force the enemy to withdraw in order to protect its own interests. This turns the tide of the situation and seizes the initiative on the battlefield.

Allusion and Origin

This stratagem originates from a famous military campaign during the Warring States period. In 354 BC, General Pang Juan of the State of Wei led his army to besiege Handan, the capital of the State of Zhao. Zhao turned to the State of Qi for help. King Wei of Qi appointed Tian Ji as commander and Sun Bin as military advisor to lead troops to rescue Zhao. Sun Bin reasoned that since Wei had sent its elite forces to attack Zhao, its homeland must be vulnerable. He therefore advised the Qi army to bypass Handan and march directly on Daliang, the capital of Wei. Upon hearing the news, Pang Juan was forced to withdraw his troops to defend his home state. On their way back, the Wei army fell into an ambush at Guiling and suffered a crushing defeat, and the siege of Zhao was lifted. This stratagem is named after the tactic of “attacking a target the enemy must defend in order to relieve the siege of Zhao.” It was first recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian (Biographies of Sun Tzu and Wu Qi) and later listed as the second stratagem in the Thirty-Six Stratagems.

Core Meaning

This stratagem emphasizes that “besieging” is the means, while “rescuing” is the goal. By striking a critical target that the enemy cannot afford to lose, one forces the adversary to react and shift their position, turning a passive situation into an active one. Its essence lies in “attacking where the enemy must come to the rescue,” avoiding a head‑on confrontation and achieving victory through superior strategy. Historical examples such as Cao Cao’s relief of the White Horse siege and the Taiping Rebellion’s breaking of the Jiangnan Grand Camp are both classic applications of this stratagem.