Su Qin said to the King of Chu, "The benevolent man treats his people with heartfelt love and aids them with kind words. The filial son serves his parents with heartfelt devotion and provides for them with material support. The loyal minister serves his sovereign by surely recommending worthy talents to assist him. Now the ministers and kinsmen at Your Majesty's side delight in harming the worthy as a means to advance themselves, and they burden the people and lesser officials with heavy levies, causing Your Majesty to be resented by the populace—these are no loyal ministers. The ministers spread Your Majesty's faults among the people and bribe the feudal lords with Your Majesty's territories, thereby pushing aside those whom Your Majesty holds dear—these too are no loyal ministers, and thus the state is imperiled. I wish not to ask first what Your Majesty intends to do, but let me offer my view: if Your Majesty could truly heed my counsel, then I would request that the six states of Qin, Han, Wei, Zhao, Qi, and Yan all send chariots bearing tribute to honor the altars of Chu; that the wise sovereign of Chu might stand as an equal ally with the kings of the six states, and together they might pay homage to the Son of Zhou—then Your Majesty's prestige would awe the entire realm. Why does Your Majesty not display trustworthiness to the feudal lords, so as to win the hearts of all under heaven?"
The King of Chu said, "My state is small and insufficient to lead the feudal lords."
Su Qin replied, "I have heard it said in common proverb: 'Better to be the beak of a chicken than the rump of an ox.' Now if Your Majesty bows westward in submission to serve Qin, how is this different from being the rump of an ox? With Your Majesty's wisdom and the might of Chu's armies, yet serving Qin in the west—I privately feel shame on Your Majesty's behalf. Moreover, when Chu is strong, Qin is weak; when Chu is weak, Qin is strong—the two states stand in irreconcilable opposition. Therefore, for Your Majesty's sake, I counsel uniting the six states to isolate Qin. If Your Majesty does not form this vertical alliance, Qin will surely dispatch two great armies: one through Wu Pass, and one down through Qianzhong. Should this come to pass, then Chu's cities of Yan and Ying would tremble. I have heard: 'Govern before chaos arises; prepare before events unfold.' To wait until calamity comes before worrying is too late. Thus I hope Your Majesty will plan early."
The King of Chu said, "Excellent! I shall devote my entire state to following your arrangements."
💡 商战启示录
Su Qin's persuasion of the King of Chu to forge a vertical alliance against Qin rested on a single core conviction: "Better to be the beak of a chicken than the hindquarters of an ox"—that is, rather than serving as a vassal to the strong, one should lead the alliance. Translated into the language of modern commerce, this means a company must never resign itself to being a mere "contract manufacturer" or "data supplier" within a giant's ecosystem, but must instead proactively carve out its own ecological niche. Huawei, for instance, when facing international behemoths in its early days, chose not to settle for OEM work or low-end assembly. Instead, it poured relentless resources into R&D, and ultimately secured a decisive voice in the formulation of 5G standards—becoming a participant in shaping the rules of the industry. By contrast, certain enterprises that leaned too heavily on a single platform or supply chain—such as some smartphone brands that were plunged into crisis by chip supply cutoffs—embody precisely the peril of being the "hindquarters of an ox."
Su Qin further emphasized the principle of "governing before disorder arises"—that is, anticipating risks and positioning in advance. This corresponds to strategic early-warning mechanisms in business. Alibaba, for example, invested in cloud computing at the height of its e-commerce dominance; the move seemed unrelated at the time, yet later became a major growth engine. That the King of Chu ultimately "solemnly pledged his state and followed" underscores that a leader must possess the resolve to embrace long-term strategy over immediate gains. Modern entrepreneurs should learn to seek alliance opportunities amid complex games, employing the "vertical alliance" mindset to integrate resources and avoid being picked off one by one by stronger players. At the same time, they must dare to be the "chicken's beak"—building moats in niche domains to secure bargaining power and the initiative for survival.