📖 Meaning
To wait at ease for an exhausted enemy. It refers to a military strategy of making full preparations, conserving energy, and striking the enemy when they arrive fatigued from a long march. By extension, it means to let opponents exhaust themselves while you remain well-rested and ready.
📜 Origin Story
This strategy originates from 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu (Sun Wu) during the Spring and Autumn period. In the chapter 'Military Combat' (军争), Sun Tzu wrote that a skilled commander should await a distant enemy with a rested army, meeting fatigue with ease and hunger with satiation. The principle became one of the classic Thirty-Six Stratagems and has been cited by military theorists throughout Chinese history. It emphasizes that conserving strength while forcing the enemy to expend theirs creates a decisive advantage.
💡 Example Usage
敌军长途跋涉而来，我军以逸待劳，必能大获全胜。
The enemy army has marched a long distance to get here; our troops, well-rested and ready, will surely win a decisive victory.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 以逸待劳
- Pinyin: yǐ yì dài láo
- Literal Translation: use ease, await fatigue
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4