business, golden cicada shedding its shell, king of qin, market competition, three kingdoms, warlord, zhang yi

The Strategy of the ‘Golden Cicada Shedding Its Shell’

The “golden cicada shedding its shell” refers to its growth process, which sheds or molts its outer shell. It can be used metaphorically to describe how people can cleverly escape a situation by using deception. In times of crisis, employing the “golden cicada shedding its shell” strategy can often turn a dangerous situation into a ...

Tatiana Denning

cicada-molting

Fan Li’s Secret to Attaining Wealth in Business in Ancient China

When Goujian, the ruler of the state of Yue in ancient China, received valuable counsel from his advisor Fan Li when he found himself trapped on Mount Kuaiji by King Fuchai of Wu. Fan Li advised Goujian on how to navigate this dire situation and emphasized that in times of crisis, one must prioritize preserving ...

Tatiana Denning

A mountain in China.

Chinese Copper Coins and the Ancient Way of Doing Business

Chinese copper coins have a long history. They contain the wisdom of the Chinese people and symbolize the way of doing business based on honesty and integrity. The meaning of copper coins Before the reign of Qin Shi Huang (259-210 B.C.), Chinese copper coins had many shapes due to the many warring states. After Qin ...

Mikel Davis

Three old Chinese coins with red cord tied through the square holes in the middle sit in front of a book on a wooden surface.

Scaling Your Business for Sustainable Growth

As a growing entrepreneur, you always focus on growing your business, looking for opportunities everywhere. However, as it grows, you must also accommodate the capacity to produce. Many people use “scalability” and “growth” interchangeably. These two concepts are undoubtedly related but don’t mean the same thing. For example, business growth means increased capacity, operations, and ...

Nathan Machoka

Men and women at a startup business meeting.

The Growing Demand for Sustainable Business Practices

As the global population continues to increase, the demand for resources and energy is also growing. This, in turn, has put a strain on the environment and has caused many of the world’s natural resources to become depleted. In response, companies and organizations have begun to shift their focus from traditional business models to ones ...

Jack Roberts

Man touching a recycling logo with his finger with green leaves in the background.

What These Men Did With Apples Decided Their Futures

The rich and the poor were once at the same starting line, but the final result was quite different — what is the reason for this? This is a story about how three men’s futures were decided by what they did with some apples. Three men went out together to search for opportunities to make a ...

Raven Montmorency

Apples hanging on trees.

The Upright Principles of Confucian Businessmen

Traditional Confucian values — “benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust” — sound like rather staid notions, more suitable for a refined scholar of literature than a go-go entrepreneur. But cases abound through Chinese history of Confucian businessmen who built vast commercial empires relying on those ideas. Take the case of Hu Xueyan, a banker who went out ...

Max Lu

Statue of Confucius.

The Huizhou Merchants and Their Way of Doing Business

The Huizhou merchants, also known as Hui merchants, were one of the merchant societies in the six counties under the Huizhou Prefecture during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, also known as the “Hui Gang.” They were highly respected and known for their “Confucian way” of doing business. The Legend of the Huizhou merchants The Huizhou ...

Hermann Rohr

Huizhou merchants doing business.

The Conscience Pawnshop

There was once a little shop called the Conscience Pawnshop. When the business began to decline, the owner, Zhang Yipin, considered closing it down. Around the same time, the owner became seriously ill and lost his eyesight. Now blind and too ill to run the business, he let his son, Zhang Sanbao, manage the shop.  ...

Tatiana Denning

Red Chinese lanterns hang along the side of a building.

The Strong Power of Your Inner Voice

I learned a long time ago to listen to my inner voice. It is a warm summer day in Australia, during a pandemic, and an odd silence wraps up the city of Melbourne due to a new sudden and unexpected lockdown, the third. Once again, I find myself immersed in my thoughts and, while trying ...

Laura Cozzolino

Laura Cozzolino sitting in front of the Australian flag.