📖 Meaning
This idiom literally means setting ambush troops on all ten sides to encircle and annihilate the enemy. It figuratively describes a situation where someone is completely surrounded or trapped with no escape route. It is often used to depict a carefully laid trap or an inescapable predicament.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Yuan dynasty anonymous play 'Bao Zhuang He' (抱妆盒), in the second act, where a character declares he has escaped both the nine-layered linked encampments and the 'ambush on ten sides' at the great gathering. Historically, the concept is closely associated with the strategist Han Xin's encirclement of the warlord Xiang Yu at the Battle of Gaixia during the Chu-Han Contention around 202 BC. The tactic involved surrounding the enemy from all directions to cut off all routes of retreat, leading to total defeat.
💡 Example Usage
敌军中了十面埋伏，四处皆是无路可逃。
The enemy forces fell into an ambush on all sides, with no route of escape in any direction.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 十面埋伏
- Pinyin: shí miàn mái fú
- Literal Translation: ten, side, ambush, hide
- Category: Strategy
- Characters: 4