暗度陈仓
- Literal
- secretly crossing by way of Chencang
- Figurative
- To advance in secret behind a visible decoy; unlike 声东击西, the hidden part is what counts; today also deals or love affairs kept quiet.
Where does 暗度陈仓 come from?
It recalls a maneuver from the war between Chu and Han, recorded in the 《史记》. In 206 BC Xiang Yu sent Liu Bang off to rule remote Hanzhong. On his way in, Liu Bang had the plank roads bolted to the cliffs burned behind him, so Xiang Yu would see he had no plans to return east. A few months later, following Han Xin's plan, he came back by an old road and struck without warning at Zhang Han, who met him at Chencang and was defeated. The formula 明修栈道，暗度陈仓, with its decoy of openly repairing the roads, was fixed by later tradition. Unlike 声东击西, what counts here is the hidden route.
Source (出处): 《史记·高祖本纪》
How is 暗度陈仓 used? Two examples
- 公司嘴上说不搬，其实早就暗度陈仓，把生产线一点点转到了外地。
The company kept saying it wasn't moving, but on the quiet it had long been shifting its production lines elsewhere, bit by bit.
- 他俩在公司装作不熟，私下里早就暗度陈仓了。
At work the two of them act like they barely know each other, but they've been seeing each other on the sly for ages.
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