暗度陈仓

暗度陳倉

àndùchéncāng

idiom #52,184

Meanings

1 to secretly cross over at Chencang
2 to do one thing openly while carrying out another in secret
3 a covert maneuver under the cover of a distracting move

Characters

secretly, in the dark

to cross, to pass over

Chen (place name)

storehouse (part of place name)

Examples

表面上在谈合作，实际上他们早就暗度陈仓了。

Biǎomiàn shàng zài tán hézuò, shíjì shàng tāmen zǎo jiù àndùchéncāng le.

On the surface they were discussing cooperation, but in reality they had long been operating behind the scenes.

他用裁员的借口暗度陈仓，把核心岗位都换成了亲信。

Tā yòng cáiyuán de jièkǒu àndùchéncāng, bǎ héxīn gǎngwèi dōu huàn chéng le qīnxìn.

Using layoffs as a pretext, he quietly swapped all the core positions for his own loyalists.

两人表面还是夫妻，其实早已暗度陈仓，各有新欢。

Liǎng rén biǎomiàn háishi fūqī, qíshí zǎo yǐ àndùchéncāng, gè yǒu xīn huān.

On the surface the two were still married, but in fact each had long been secretly seeing someone new.

Tips

history

From the Han founder Liu Bang's 206 BCE campaign (per 《史记·高祖本纪》). On Han Xin's advice, he openly repaired the plank road to Guanzhong while secretly marching through Chencang (陈仓, in modern Baoji, Shaanxi) to surprise Zhang Han. The full strategic phrase — 明修栈道，暗度陈仓 — became one of the 36 Stratagems.

usage

Often carries a hint of deceit or infidelity in modern colloquial use. Can also describe legitimate business strategy. Writing: 暗度 and 暗渡 are both accepted; 度 is the older form.

Stroke Order

暗 àn

度 dù

陈 chén

仓 cāng