美人计

美人計

měirénjì

noun #31,146

Meanings

1 honey trap; the 'beauty trap' stratagem
2 scheme to entrap an enemy by sending in a beautiful woman

Characters

scheme, stratagem

Examples

HSK 7-9

敌方使了一招美人计，把机密给套出来了。

Dífāng shǐ le yī zhāo měirénjì, bǎ jīmì gěi tào chūlái le.

The enemy used a honey trap and got the secrets out of him.

HSK 7-9

他对美人计有所警惕，没有上当。

Tā duì měirénjì yǒusuǒ jǐngtì, méiyǒu shàngdàng.

He was wary of the honey trap and didn't fall for it.

Tips

history

Stratagem #31 of the 三十六计 (Thirty-Six Stratagems), the classic Chinese military-strategy compendium. The archetypal example is Diaochan (貂蝉) playing Dong Zhuo (董卓) and Lü Bu (吕布) against each other in 《三国演义》 - a love triangle engineered to get a tyrant killed by his own adopted son.

In Pop Culture

貂蝉 Diāochán

Diaochan

Legendary Three Kingdoms beauty whose love-triangle entrapment of the warlord Dong Zhuo and his adopted son Lü Bu is the textbook example of 美人计.

Stroke Order

美 měi

人 rén

计 jì