Chinese idiom · 成语
欲擒故纵
Meaning
To capture, first release; strategic leniency.
Character by character
Origin and story
Strategic principleThe sixteenth of the Thirty-Six Stratagems explains a tactic of loosening pressure in order to capture an opponent later. Its reasoning is that a cornered enemy may fight desperately, while one allowed to retreat can lose strength and determination. The pursuer follows without pressing too closely, waiting for resistance to break down. The heading also appears with 姑, meaning 'for the time being,' in place of 故.
The principle spread beyond warfare. In chapter 13 of the Qing novel Ernü Yingxiong Zhuan, the storyteller uses the expression for a writer's deliberate postponement of a revelation. The wording describes calculated restraint, not genuine abandonment of the objective. A precise original author or date should not be assumed.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
这家店先说不急着成交，其实是在欲擒故纵。
The shop says it is in no hurry to make the sale, but it is really playing hard to get.
Describes a deliberate tactic of easing pressure to obtain an eventual advantage.