The Framework of Persuasion

I could not believe it when I read the story of “Zi Gong preserve the State of Lu” at a Barnes & Noble store several years ago. Zi Gong, who had absolutely no political or military power to play, managed to change the course of a war and turned landscape of the country upside down 2,000+ years ago single-handedly through his powerful persuasion. Tian Chang, the prime minister of the stake of Qi, launched a war against the state of Lu, its smaller neighbor, for the purpose of driving his rival generals to the theater abroad and isolating the lord of the state so that he can eventually take over the lordship. Determined to preserve the state of Lu and eliminate the threats from its ruthless neighbors, Zi Gong, persuaded Tian Chang to turn his army to the state of Wu, convinced the lord of Wu to seize the moment of opportunity to destroy the state of Qi and challenge the state of Jin for the purpose of building his hegemon, and helped the states of Yue and Jin to plan the final extermination of the state of Wu.

This story was recorded by Sima Qian in Shi Ji (史记) . Here is my English translation: Zi Gong story

How did Zi Gong pull it off? What made his persuasion so effective? What can we learn from his persuasion? My analysis of this and other persuasion stories indicates that the power of persuasion contains three key elements: capturing others’ cravings, influencing others’ choice of approaches, and making other’s approaches feasible.

Capturing Others’ Cravings

In Zi Gong story, Tian Chang, the prime minister of the state of Lu, ignored interest of his state and laser-focused on taking over the lordship of the state. The lord of Wu had a thirst for achieving his hegemon with no regard of the risks. The lord of Yue suffered from the pain of defeat day and night and could hardly wait to put up a fight to kill the lord of Wu. The story tells us that people usually have their cravings – things that are best for his or her self-realization and for rewarding himself or herself. Literatures in the areas of personality studies and social and personal development studies have listed many such cravings. To name a few: some striving to be right according to principles, to dominate the environment, to be possessive; others always going the extra mile to avert conflicts, to be needed, included or admired by others; some loving to be known as creative or knowledgeable. While the cravings are often triggered by significant events during a person’s moral development stage, they are mainly shaped by people’s beliefs and values developed through interacting with their environment. As stable as one’s beliefs and values, a person’s cravings can hardly be changed through persuasion. Zi Gong’s success in changing the course of the war and preserving the state of Lu results from his ability to exploit the statesmen’s cravings: 1) Tian Chang’s desire to isolate the lord of Qi and weaken his rival generals, 2) the lord of Wu’s desire for hegemon and 3) the lord of Yue’s resolve to get his revenge. To persuade others, we need to make sure that our proposals serve their cravings well. To protect ourselves, on the other hand, we have to be aware of the vulnerability resulting from our own cravings.

Influence Others’ Choice of Approaches

Having a good grasp of others’ cravings and develop proposals accordingly achieves only half of the task; persuasion deals not only how others think but also what and how others practice. Tian Chang wanted to strengthen his power by sending his rival generals away from the lord of Qi and to war theaters abroad. Zi Gong artfully averted Tian Chang’s target of the war and did not tell him that he should fight his rivals in the court of the state. The lord of Wu prefers conquering others through armed conflict. Zi Gong persuaded him to leave the state of Yue alone through obtaining lord of Yue’s plea for peace and to turn his war machine against other states and did not ask him to keep the peace and subdue other states through power play. The lord of Yue wanted the death of the lord of Wu. Zi Gong managed to get him to post-pone his strike until a better moment and did not ask him to switch to other means. The choice of approach is heavily influenced by one’s beliefs, values and personalities. It is interesting to observe how Zi Gong, who shared no cravings with the statesmen, managed to get them to do what he wanted by offering ideas which affirm their preference of the approaches. To persuade others, we need to focus on figuring out how others’ choice of approach can be utilized for our purposes and develop our proposals which are in line with their preferences. To protect ourselves, we have to keep our eyes on the risks of having things carried away by those whose goals are far different from ours.

Making Others’ Approaches More Feasible

This story shows that people’s decisions are predominantly determined by their cravings and choice of approaches. Time and again, people move forward with no regard of vital disadvantages and risks, leading to a great room for persuasion using diligence. From Zi Gong’s point of view, feasibilities of the approaches can be greatly improved if appropriate adjustments are made. Tian Chang’s purpose of isolating the lord of Qi and weakening his rival generals can be better served if he can get the generals stuck with a stronger enemy abroad. The lord of Wu should seize the opportunity to crash the state of Qi through taking the vulnerable state of Lu and the “friendly” state of Yue as his allies and in the name of saving a sovereign state. Finally, the lord of Yue will have much better chance to take his revenge by holding his strike until the state of Wu suffers from a severe defeat by the powerful state of Jin in the north. To persuade others, we can get others to adjust their approaches to fit our needs. To protect ourselves, we have to make sure that any adjustment should lead to the outcome that best serve our own needs.

When it comes to discussions about persuasion, many authors look rightly into the interests of those to be persuaded. What puzzles people is the fact that interests perceived important to persuaders are not that effective in persuasion. In reality, interests are quite complicated – collective vs. individual, long-term vs. short-term, core vs. peripheral. If we get good grasp of the cravings, choice of approaches and feasibility in the eyes of those whom we want to persuade we have better chance to understand why they focus on one interest over another.

Finally, get people else to provide what we want should not be the ultimate goal. History shows, times and gain, that people have to face the outcomes of their acts and unethical and immoral maneuvers always ended up with those players suffering from the disasters they had created.


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