金蝉脱壳　(jīn chán tuō qiào)

Ruse of the Golden Cicada

Like some other insects and reptiles, the cicada sheds its skin when molting. But in Chinese, the phrase “to shed the golden cicada shell” means a tactic to escape danger or flee a pursuing enemy.

After molting, a cicada would leave behind its old skin and move into a new stage of life. Others might be fooled by the sight of the dead shell and mistake it as the real cicada resting on a tree twig.

So, leaving behind a facade of your existence in one place could create an opportunity for you to divert your enemy’s attention while you flee and regroup in another place.

Famous Chinese strategist Zhuge Liang (181-234 AD) not only knew this stratagem very well but also pulled off the ruse successfully when he was already dead.(https://www.daowen.com)

Zhuge led the troops of the Kingdom of Shu to invade central China six times but failed on each attempt. And during the last invasion, he fell ill and died on the road. Before dying, he advised his general, Jiang Wei, on how to fend off the Kingdom of Wei army’s offensive and safely withdraw the troops back to their home kingdom in southwest China.

By following Zhuge’s advice, General Jiang concealed news of the strategist’s death and ordered a craftsman to make a life-size wooden statue of his dead leader.

The next day, General Jiang ordered only part of his force to launch a noisy attack against the Wei troops, with loud shouting and drumming. Then, his guards wheeled out the statue of Zhuge to give the impression that he was still personally supervising the assault.

Meanwhile, General Jiang directed other troops to quietly withdraw with the coffin carrying the dead strategist’s body.

The Wei troops and their commander were puzzled by the sudden show of the enemy’s strength. But they all knew that Zhuge Liang was a very cunning and deceitful man. They wondered what on earth the strategist was pulling off against them this time.

Before they could figure out the “new ruse” of Zhuge, the Wei commander decided to back off and avoid any direct engagement. Seeing the Wei army retreat from the battlefield, General Jiang immediately ordered his troops to move quickly and safely back to their own state.

It was too late to chase the retreating Shu troops by the time the Wei commander learned that Zhuge had already passed away.