纵横捭阖

be perpendicular and horizontal;manoeuvre among various political groupings -- tactics of a skilled diplomat;open and close;The top theories advanced during “the Period of the Warring States” (475-221 B.C.)the use of political and diplomatic means either to unite the small states against a dominant powerful state or to undermine the solidarity of the small, weak states and bring them under the rule of a strong one ;