明修栈道，暗渡陈仓 / 明修棧道，暗渡陳倉

míng​xiū​zhàn​dào'àn​dù​chén​cāng

to feign one thing while doing another

Literally meaning to repair the plank road by day while secretly crossing at Chencang, this idiom describes using a diversion to hide one's true intentions or activities.

明 (literal) → 明 · míng · openly 修 (literal) → 修 · xiū · to build 栈道 (literal) → 栈道/棧道 · zhàn​dào · plank road ， (non_chinese) 暗 (literal) → 暗 · àn · hidden 渡 (literal) → 渡 · dù · to cross 陈仓 (literal) → 陈仓/陳倉 · chén​cāng · Chencang

Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:57 PM