ancient china, chinese history, leadership, military strategy, personal integrity, shu han, three kingdoms, trustworthiness, virtue, wei state, zhuge liang

Zhuge Liang’s Strategy: Winning Wars and Hearts with Trustworthiness

In traditional Chinese philosophy, the character for “trustworthiness” (信) is composed of the characters for “person” (人) and “speech” (言). This emphasizes that trustworthiness is a combination of one’s actions and words. It serves as the bedrock of personal integrity and the cornerstone upon which societies and nations are built. Lacking this quality, neither an ...

Mikel Davis

Illustration of Chinese statesman, strategist, and engineer Zhuge Liang who lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty.

6 Consequences of Not Living Up to Your Promises

At some point in life, you have likely made a promise to yourself or made to others or come across a person or people who promised you something. Keeping promises makes you trustworthy and honorable, while not honoring them slowly erodes your self-belief and respect from other people. Understanding why living up to your promises ...

Nathan Machoka

Broken promises.

What Ancient Wisdom Can Teach Us About Managing Money

Throughout the ages, the ancients passed down many words of wisdom, including how one should handle matters of managing money.  Zhang Shuo, prime minister during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), once gave advice on managing money. He said that money is a sort of medicine in life. When used according to the right principles, including morality, ...

Tatiana Denning

Ancient Chinese coins.