Chinese Idiom: 暗度陈仓 (An Du Chen Cang)
English Translation: Secretly Passing Through Chen Cang
pīn yīn: àn dù chén cāng
Idiom Meaning: Originally refers to a military strategy of deceiving the enemy at the front while launching a surprise attack from the side; it also metaphorically describes activities conducted secretly.
Historical Source: From the Book of Han (《汉书·高帝纪上》).
Idiom Story:
After Xiang Yu declared himself the Hegemon King of Western Chu in Xianyang and divided territories among various lords, he was most wary of Liu Bang, the King of Han. To limit Liu Bang’s power, Xiang Yu assigned him the least desirable territories in the southwestern corner, comprising three regions: Ba (present-day eastern Sichuan), Shu (central Sichuan), and Hanzhong (southwestern Shaanxi, northwestern Hubei), totaling forty-one counties. To prevent Liu Bang from returning east to compete for control, Xiang Yu stationed three former Qin generals—Zhang Han, Sima Xin, and Dong Yi (collectively known as the Three Qins)—to guard the Guanzhong region, blocking Liu Bang’s path.
In April 206 BC, Liu Bang’s army exited Xianyang and, while en route to his capital in the southern suburbs (modern-day Hanzhong), he followed the advice of his strategist Zhang Liang. They used a tactic of burning sections of the wooden paths (known as zhandao) leading through the mountains, making it seem as if Liu Bang had no intentions of moving east to challenge Xiang Yu, thus misleading him.
This strategy worked effectively. Xiang Yu became distracted by the other rebellious lords, inadvertently relaxing his vigilance toward Liu Bang. In June of that year, Liu Bang appointed Han Xin as his general and executed Han Xin’s plan, quietly leading the main army from Nanzheng eastward.
Simultaneously, he instructed Generals Fan Kuai and Zhou Bo to boldly repair the wooden paths, creating the appearance of an imminent eastern campaign. Forewarned of this supposed eastern expedition, Zhang Han focused on guarding the wooden path, calculating that it would take Liu Bang at least one to two years to complete the repairs. However, he underestimated the Han army’s movements.
Unexpectedly, news arrived that Liu Bang’s army had crossed the wooden path and captured Chen Cang, approaching his defenses. Zhang Han was both shocked and skeptical; he couldn’t believe Liu Bang could move when the path wasn’t repaired. Little did he know that Liu Bang’s troops, under Han Xin’s clever strategy of “repairing the wooden path openly while secretly passing through Chen Cang,” had circumvented his defenses entirely.
By the time Zhang Han rushed his forces to Chen Cang to confront Liu Bang’s army, it was too late. Liu Bang’s troops overwhelmed them, winning multiple battles, ultimately leading to the fall of the capital and Zhang Han’s suicide. Liu Bang swiftly took control of the territories and Xianyang.
From this story, people derived the idiom “暗度陈仓,” which highlights clever strategy and deception.
