📖 Meaning
To deliberately draw the enemy deep into one's own territory, placing them in an isolated and disadvantageous position from which they cannot easily escape. It is a classic military strategy of trading space for the initiative, then counterattacking when the enemy is overextended.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase was prominently discussed by Mao Zedong in his 1936 work 'On Problems of Strategy in China's Revolutionary War,' Chapter 5, Section 3. Mao evaluated whether the tactic of luring the enemy deep remained viable during the Kuomintang's fifth encirclement campaign against the Red Army. He concluded that against the enemy's blockhouse warfare, the traditional approach of drawing the enemy in was no longer effective, and that分散抵御 (dispersed defense) and short, sharp assaults were instead required. The idiom has since become a staple of Chinese military and strategic vocabulary.
💡 Example Usage
将军决定诱敌深入，待敌军疲惫不堪时再发起总攻。
The general decided to lure the enemy deep into their territory, waiting until the opposing forces were thoroughly exhausted before launching the full-scale counterattack.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 诱敌深入
- Pinyin: yòu dí shēn rù
- Literal Translation: lure, enemy, deep, enter
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4