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Towards the end of the Qin Dynasty, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were conscripted into the army. Due to heavy rain, their journey was delayed, which was punishable by death, thus forcing them to rebel.
Before the rebellion, Chen Sheng consulted a fortune teller. He then wrote "Chen Sheng, King" on a piece of white silk and hid it in the belly of a fish.
In the middle of the night, in an old temple, he covered a campfire with a bamboo cage and mimicked a fox crying out "Chen Sheng, King" to create momentum and divine legitimacy for his cause.
The very next day, they launched their uprising and established the Zhang Chu regime.

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Open the tool →狐鸣篝火 (hú míng gōu huǒ) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to fabricate omens or signs to instigate a rebellion or rally support”.
狐鸣篝火 is pronounced hú míng gōu huǒ in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 狐鸣篝火 means “Fox crying by the campfire”. It is used to mean “to fabricate omens or signs to instigate a rebellion or rally support”.
狐鸣篝火 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to the modern era. The full story is on this page.
指起事者动员群众的措施。同“狐鸣鱼书”。