暗度陈仓 To secretly pass through Chencang
Explanation
暗度陈仓，是一个汉语成语，出自《史记·高祖本纪》，意思是偷偷地从侧翼发动进攻，比喻暗中进行活动。它源于汉高祖刘邦在楚汉战争中，利用计谋从陈仓绕道偷袭秦军的故事。
‚To secretly pass through Chencang‘ is a Chinese idiom derived from the ‚Records of the Grand Historian‘. It means to secretly launch an attack from the flank, or metaphorically, to carry out an activity in secret. It originates from the story of Liu Bang, the first Emperor of the Han Dynasty, who used a clever tactic to ambush the Qin army from Chencang during the Chu-Han War.
Origin Story
秦末，项羽灭秦后自立为西楚霸王，违背了谁先攻入咸阳为王的约定。刘邦对此十分不满，便率兵进入四川，沿途烧毁栈道，自封为汉王。后来，刘邦得到韩信的帮助，在明面上修建栈道，暗地里却绕道偷袭项羽的将军章邯。最终，刘邦取得了中原的统治，成为汉朝的开国皇帝。
At the end of the Qin Dynasty, after Xiang Yu destroyed Qin, he declared himself the King of Western Chu, breaking the agreement that whoever conquered Xianyang first would be the king. Liu Bang was very unhappy about this, so he led his troops into Sichuan. Along the way, he burned the plank roads and crowned himself King of Han. Later, Liu Bang got help from Han Xin. Publicly, he built the plank roads, but secretly he bypassed them to ambush Xiang Yu's general Zhang Han. In the end, Liu Bang gained control of the Central Plains and became the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty.
Usage
这个成语通常用来比喻暗中进行的行动，或是在表面上迷惑敌人，而实际上采取了不同的行动。
This idiom is usually used to describe secret actions, or to express that someone is deceiving the enemy on the surface, while in reality they are taking a completely different course of action.
Examples
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敌人看到我们大张旗鼓地往陈仓方向进军，以为我们要正面进攻，却不知我们已经暗度陈仓，从侧翼发起偷袭。
dí rén kàn dào wǒ men dà zhāng qí gǔ de wǎng chén cāng fāng xiàng jìn jūn, yǐ wéi wǒ men yào zhèng miàn jìn gōng, què bù zhī wǒ men yǐ jīng àn dù chén cāng, cóng cè yì fā qǐ tōu xí.
The enemy saw us marching towards Chencang with great fanfare, thinking we were going to attack head-on, but they didn't know we had already secretly gone through Chencang to launch a surprise attack from the flank.
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他们暗度陈仓，偷偷地进行着这项秘密计划。
tā men àn dù chén cāng, tōu tōu de jìn xíng zhe zhè xiàng mì mì jì huà.
They are secretly working on this secret plan.
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他总是暗度陈仓，不让人知道他的真实想法。
tā zǒng shì àn dù chén cāng, bù ràng rén zhī dào tā de zhēn shí xiǎng fǎ.
He always keeps his true thoughts secret and doesn't let anyone know his cards.