cǎo草strawchuán船boatjiè借borrowjiàn箭arrows
Borrowing arrows with straw boats — using the enemy's resources against them through cunning.
Literal meaning
straw (草) — boat (船) — borrow (借) — arrows (箭)
Origin
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (《三国演义》). Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮) was ordered to produce 100,000 arrows in three days. On a foggy night, he sent twenty boats filled with straw figures toward the Cao Cao army's camp, drumming and shouting. Cao Cao's troops, unable to see, fired thousands of arrows into the fog. Zhuge Liang returned with the arrows lodged in the straw. The image stands for clever leveraging of an enemy's resources.
Examples
Tā他yòng用cǎo草chuán船jiè借jiàn箭de的fāng方fǎ法，jiè借duì对shǒu手de的zī资yuán源wán完chéng成le了xiàng项mù目。
He used a straw-boats-borrow-arrows approach — completing the project on his competitor's resources.
Cǎo草chuán船jiè借jiàn箭shì是yì一zhǒng种qiǎo巧miào妙de的zhàn战lüè略。
Straw-boats-borrowing-arrows is a clever strategic move.
Usage & nuances
Story-rich. Used in commentary on business / political moves that turn an opponent's resources to your advantage.
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