添兵减灶 — “Add soldiers, reduce cooking-stoves”
添兵减灶 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to use a military strategy of feigning weakness and retreat by reducing the number of cooking-stoves (implying fewer troops), while secretly increasing military strength, in order to deceive and lure the enemy”. Literally, “add soldiers, reduce cooking-stoves”.
添兵减灶 Pronunciation and Pinyin
添兵减灶 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 添兵减灶
Origin and Story of 添兵减灶
During the Warring States period, Pang Juan, a disciple of the master strategist Guiguzi, conspired to harm his fellow disciple Sun Bin. Sun Bin, whose legs were severed, managed to escape to the State of Qi and became a military advisor to General Tian Ji.
When King Wei dispatched Pang Juan to attack the State of Zhao, Tian Ji adopted Sun Bin's brilliant strategies, including "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" and "adding soldiers while reducing cooking-stoves." This deception forced Pang Juan to retreat.
As Pang Juan pursued the Qi army, he was led into an ambush at Maling Dao, where he ultimately committed suicide.
Idioms Related to 添兵减灶
More idioms starting with 添
- tiān添zhī枝jiā加yè叶Embellish a story with extra details
- tiān添zhī枝zēng增yè叶embellish with unnecessary details
- tiān添zhī枝jiē接yè叶add unnecessary details
- tiān添yóu油jiā加cù醋exaggerate or embellish a story
- tiān添yóu油chì炽xīn薪exacerbate a bad situation
- tiān添yán盐zhe着cù醋exaggerate and embellish a story
- tiān添zhuān砖jiā加wǎ瓦to contribute one's share
- tiān添cù醋jiā加yóu油exaggerate or embellish a story
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Open the tool →Questions about 添兵减灶
What does 添兵减灶 mean?
添兵减灶 (tiān bīng jiǎn zào) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to use a military strategy of feigning weakness and retreat by reducing the number of cooking-stoves (implying fewer troops), while secretly increasing military strength, in order to deceive and lure the enemy”.
How do you pronounce 添兵减灶?
添兵减灶 is pronounced tiān bīng jiǎn zào in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 添兵减灶 literally mean?
Literally, 添兵减灶 means “add soldiers, reduce cooking-stoves”. It is used to mean “to use a military strategy of feigning weakness and retreat by reducing the number of cooking-stoves (implying fewer troops), while secretly increasing military strength, in order to deceive and lure the enemy”.
Where does 添兵减灶 come from?
添兵减灶 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 添兵减灶?
啬兵员，反而减少行军饭灶。指伪装士兵逃亡，示弱以欺骗对方。