Chinese proverbs about cunning

The advantages and disadvantages of using clever tactics to achieve your ends.

先下手为强

Xiān xià shǒu wéi qiáng [xian xia shou wei qiang]

first set about act strong

Striking first to demonstrate strength

To gain the upper hand by striking first

Strike while the iron is hot

贼喊捉贼

Zéi hǎn zhuō zéi [zei han zhuo zei]

thief shout 'stop thief'

A thief cries 'Stop thief!'

Diverting attention to cover misdoing

Crying 'wolf'

狡兔三窟

Jiǎo tù sān kū [jiao tu san ku]

crafty hare three burrows

A crafty rabbit has three burrows

To succeed there must be several alternative strategies

There's more than one way to skin a cat

明知故问

Míng zhī gù wèn [ming zhi gu wen]

bright know incident ask

Already knowing the answer

To ask a question when already knowing the answer

偷梁换柱

Tōu liáng huàn zhù [tou liang huan zhu]

steal girder change post

Steal beams replaced with wooden poles

To carry out a crafty deception

矢口否认

Shǐ kǒu fǒu rèn [shi kou fou ren]

arrow mouth deny

To shoot arrows from the mouth

To flatly deny the truth

翻云覆雨

Fān yún fù yǔ [fan yun fu yu]

turn over cloud overturn rain

Conjuring clouds with one hand and rain with the other

Trying too hard to impress

兔死狐悲

Tù sǐ hú bēi [tu si hu bei]

hare die fox sorrow

A fox mourns the death of a rabbit

Feigning concern to conceal true feeling

To weep crocodile tears

沐猴而冠

Mù hóu ér guàn [mu hou er guan]

tree monkey but wear hat

A hat-wearing macaque

A worthless person hiding behind imposing looks. Trying to impress too hard

All that glitters is not gold

笑里藏刀

Xiaò lǐ cáng dāo [xiao li cang dao]

smile inside conceal knife

A dagger concealed in a smile

Malice concealed by apparent friendliness

顾左右而言他

Gù zuǒ yòu ér yán tā [gu zuo you er yan ta]

look at left and right sides but then talk him

Looking both ways and changing the subject

Avoiding talking about something; taking a long digression

老奸巨猾

Laǒ jiān jù huá [lao jian ju hua]

old crafty great cunning

To be very crafty and cunning

To be tricky, cunning, crafty. Well versed in the ways of the world

All's fair in love and war

兵不厌诈

Bīng bù yàn zhà [bing bu yan zha]

weapon not detest cheat

In conflict cheating is permitted

In warfare nothing is too dishonest

All is fair in love and war

恶人先告状

È rén xiān gàozhuàng [e ren xian gaozhuang]

evil person first tell complaint

The offender is the first to complain

The perpetrator diverts attention by being the first to complain

To cry 'wolf'

调虎离山

Diào hǔ lí shān [diao hu li shan]

move tiger leave mountain

Lure a tiger down from its mountain. This is one of the age old strategms of war.

Lure an enemy out of its home territory in order to attack it

狐假虎威

Hǔ jiǎ hǔ wēi [hu jia hu wei]

fox fake tiger power

A fox will pretend to have the power of a tiger. The story is that a fox followed a tiger in a parade. The animals panicked and the fox claimed that this was because they were frightened of the fox not the tiger

A trick of cunning to exaggerate self importance

Our proverbs come with lots of information. The modern Chinese characters are followed by the proverb in pinyin. Next, there is a crude character by character transliteration into English, followed by a more accurate English translation. If this is a Chinese proverb alluding to history the meaning may still not be clear in English, so the general meaning follows. Finally some proverbs have fairly direct English equivalents, if so the English proverb is included at the end.

Our translations are in need of improvement, so please let us know your suggestions.