Zhao Rui's stratagem theory

A social-philosophical conception of Zhao Rui, the Tang dynasty thinker, is analyzed in the article. Social relativism and dialectical method are fundamental for Zhao Rui's philosophical doctrine. The article shows his methodology of analyzing the historical events taken as examples for creation and use of stratagems by Chinese rulers. His philosophical views include an integral complex of value representations which became a philosophical and intellectual foundation to form the stratagemical thinking later on.