Ji Ran was an economist of the Yue state in the late Spring and Autumn period. According to the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), Fan Li once sighed: “Ji Ran had seven strategies; Yue applied five of them and prospered. Having applied them to the state, I now wish to apply them to my household.”

Strategy 1: “Know battle is coming, so prepare; know when things are used, so know goods.”

That is: knowing war is coming, strengthen your defenses; knowing when people use what goods is understanding the circulation of commodities. In modern terms: do market research and forecasting, so that “the nature of all goods can be observed.”

Strategy 2: The cycle of harvest and famine

Based on the cycles of yin-yang and the five elements: years of metal bring harvest, years of water bring poor harvests, years of wood bring famine, years of fire bring drought. And following Jupiter’s 12-year cycle, every 6 years brings a bumper harvest, every 6 years a drought, and every 12 years a great famine. By tracking these cycles, one can predict agricultural markets and decide when to buy or sell.

Strategy 3: “In drought, invest in boats; in flood, invest in carts.”

An investment strategy built on market research and forecasting: in drought, land transport sells well; in floods, boats sell well. What sells well inevitably becomes oversupplied — go against the trend to gain the edge.

Strategy 4: Benefit farmers and merchants alike; keep prices level.

Set fair prices that balance the interests of producers, merchants, and consumers. Ji Ran argued that when trading grain, “a price of twenty harms farmers, ninety harms merchants” — the reasonable range is “no higher than eighty, no lower than thirty,” balancing farmers, merchants, and state revenue: the proper way to manage a state’s finances.

Strategy 5: Deal only in flawless goods.

Always trade in high-quality, flawless goods — a timeless rule for staying unbeatable in competition.

Strategy 6: Let no capital sit idle.

Avoid stockpiling goods; keep capital circulating, so that “money flows like water.”

Strategy 7: “When prices peak, they will fall; when they bottom out, they will rise.”

Study the interplay of high and low prices, of brisk and sluggish sales, to time your trades. When prices are high, sell decisively, treating goods as dirt; when prices are low, buy decisively, treasuring them like jewels.