A wonderful card of a Chinese junk in Victoria Harbour with the modern skyscrapers of Hong Kong in the background.
The postage stamp caught my eye. It is commemorating the Empty Fort Strategy. The Empty Fort Strategy involves using reverse psychology, and some luck, to deceive one's enemies into thinking that an empty location is full of traps and ambushes, and therefore induce the enemy to retreat. It is the 32nd of the Chinese Thirty-Six Stratagems, an essay used to illustrate a series of stratagems used in politics, war, and civil interaction. Its focus is on using cunning and deception both on the battlefield and in court.
Apparently this stratagem was employed in CE 195 by the war lord Cao Cao against his rival Lu Bu at Chengshi County. Lu Bu had 10 000 soldiers attack Cao Cao, but Cao Cao, who had very few soldiers, managed to set up an ambush and defeat Lu Bu. Cao Cao had about 1000 men available to defend his base. He had women stand guard on the walls to give Lu Bu the impression that Cao Cao had more soldiers than he actually did. Lu Bu also thought that Cao Cao was setting up an ambush, so he led his soldiers south of the base. During this lull, Cao Cao was able to get more soldiers and did set up an ambush. When Lu Bu came to attack the next day, Cao Cao's soldiers were waiting for them in ambush and were able to defeat Lu Bu.
The sender was in Las Vegas recently and bought this card from The Mob Museum. The Mob Museum, officially known as the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, is located in downtown Las Vegas. It open in 2012. It features artifacts, stories, and the history of organized crime in the United States, but also the actions and initiatives by law enforcement to prevent such crimes. The museum is found at the former Las Vegas Post Office and Courthouse, which was built in 1933. The quote on this card was from John Gotti. John Gotti (1940-2002) was the mafioso and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. After ordering the killing of Gambino boss Paul Catellano in 1985, he took over the family and led what was the United States' most powerful crime syndicate. He was known as The Teflon Don after three high profile trials in the 1980s resulted in acquittals. Later it was revealed that the trials had been tainted by jury tampering, juror misconduct, and...
Keita is a junior high science teacher in Iwate 岩手町. He sent me a photo of the Tokyo Sky Tower during a fireworks display. The Tokyo Sky Tower is a broadcasting and observation tower in Simide, a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis. It became the tallest structure in Japan in 2010. In 2011, when it was completed at a height of 634 meters, it became the tallest tower in the world, and the second tallest structure in the world, after Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE.
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