Qalāʾūn was a decisive ruler and an able administrator.
Sarit was admired by many as a strong and decisive ruler, but his popularity diminished significantly after his death, when the extent of his personal corruption became widely known.
Awful to see the strongman Henry IV's declension from decisive ruler to vomit-stained, dishevelled, semi-senile old man, clutching at the crown like a toy, and sat in John of Gaunt's wheelchair (from Richard II).
After the well-publicised exhumation in 2012 of Richard III Henry I ruled England for 35 years between 1100 and 1135 and is remembered by historians as an "energetic, decisive and occasionally cruel ruler" who allegedly died after eating too many lampreys – a kind of jawless fish.
Aulus Caecina Alienus, (born, Vicetia, Venetia [now Vicenza, Italy] died ad 79) Roman general who, during the civil wars of 69, played a decisive role in making first Aulus Vitellius and then Vespasian rulers of the empire.
Vicenza, Italy 79 Aulus Caecina Alienus, (born, Vicetia, Venetia [now Vicenza, Italy] died ad 79) Roman general who, during the civil wars of 69, played a decisive role in making first Aulus Vitellius and then Vespasian rulers of the empire.
Having exploited the king so that he plays a bigger and more decisive role than the mainly symbolic one envisaged when absolute monarchy ended in 1932, Thailand's rulers naturally fear instability when he dies.Going quietlyOn his death Lee Kuan Yew was widely (and misleadingly) described as almost the sole architect of Singapore's success.
This makes the ruler's will decisive, but note that his authority rests on a popular decision.
Battle of Al-Mulaydah, (1891), decisive victory for Ibn Rashīd, the ruler of the Rashīdī kingdom at Ḥāʾil, near Jabal Shammar in Najd, northern Arabia, who defeated allies of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, the head of the Wahhābī (fundamentalist Islamic) state in Najd.
In the face of global turmoil, which could have the most profound impact on our own fortunes, Britain's rulers and would-be rulers looked not so much decisive players as sidelined spectators.
Ideally, of course, the way to do this would be through "nonaction" in the sense outlined earlier; but I suspect this is also Wang Bi's way of saying that the idealism of wuwei and ziran does not preclude decisive intervention on the part of the sage ruler.
