The collective name for a famous set of Chinese military and political tactics; also used to mean all possible schemes or a wide variety of tricks. The final and most well-known tactic in this set is 走为上计 zǒu​wéi​shàng​jì.

shorthand for the proverb "of the thirty-six stratagems, leaving is best", used to indicate that retreating or escaping is the best course of action