The phrase “finding a new trail” is often used to mean independently developing a new style or method. There are many Chinese sayings that refer to “tunnel vision”, such as “Don’t stick to only one path until you walk into complete darkness,” “a single-track mind” and “one who refuses to turn back until running into a wall”.

People and things in the world are ever-changing and there can not be only one or two solutions to a problem. Especially in case of certain thorny problems, if people resort to unconventional methods in the light of actual circumstances, they can sometimes achieve surprisingly good results. This is a very typical story of this rule.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Wu of the state of Zheng was entertaining the envoys of various states at a banquet, when one of the envoys pocketed a wine cup exquisitely carved with nine dragons. A guard noticed it and reported to the general. The general was undecided between the need to recover this precious wine cup and the possible damage with that state if he brought the matter public. Finally, he came up with an idea. He secretly ordered the addition of a magic show at the banquet. When the magician appeared on the stage, he covered 3 nine-dragon wine cups with a black cloth and, wielding a wand in the air, he removed the cloth to reveal only 3 cups. He announced that he had already managed to slip the other cup into the bag of someone in the audience. He walked towards the envoy in question and politely asked the latter to open his bag. That is how the nine-dragon wine cup was recovered.