CHENGYU
草船借箭(cǎo chuán jiè jiàn)meaning, story and origin
- Register:
- literary
- Source:
- 明·罗贯中《三国演义》
MEANING
- Literal
- to borrow arrows with straw boats
- Figurative meaning
- to cleverly use the opponent's resources to achieve one's own goal
ORIGIN STORY
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang sailed twenty boats covered in straw into thick fog toward the enemy camp. The enemy shot the "ships" full of arrows; Zhuge Liang sailed back with more than a hundred thousand arrows, fulfilling his promise.
NATURAL EQUIVALENT
“to turn the enemy's weapons against them”
EXAMPLES
他这招草船借箭，用对方的资源办成了自己的事。Tā zhè zhāo cǎo chuán jiè jiàn, yòng duìfāng de zīyuán bàn chéng le zìjǐ de shì.HSK6
His straw-boat trick got his own goal done with the other side's resources.
营销团队草船借箭，借别人的流量宣传自己。Yíngxiāo tuánduì cǎo chuán jiè jiàn, jiè biérén de liúliàng xuānchuán zìjǐ.HSK6
The marketing team borrowed arrows with straw boats, riding others' traffic to promote itself.
COMMON MISTAKE
Watch out: Note the reading: 船 is chuán. The idiom praises clever borrowing, not cheating.
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TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01