steal the beams and pillars and replace them with rotten timbers(tōu liáng huàn zhù)

steal the beams and pillars and replace them with rotten timbers

It is a Chinese idiom. Its pronunciation is t à Uli á nghu à nzh à. It is the 25th of the thirty-six stratagems. It means playing tricks in secret, substituting false for true, and substituting bad for good

The origin of Idioms

Chapter 97 of a dream of Red Mansions by Cao Xueqin in the Qing Dynasty: "Sister Feng has come up with a plan to steal a beam and exchange a pillar. It's not so easy for her to come to Xiaoxiang Pavilion, but she can't be spared her sisterhood. What a pity."

Idiom usage

He took advantage of others' scientific research achievements to take his own.

Idioms and allusions

Yuanyuan means to change the essence and content of things secretly by means of stealing, so as to achieve the purpose of cheating. "Steal the sky for the sun", "steal the dragon for the Phoenix" and "swap the package" all have the same meaning. In military affairs, in joint operations against the enemy, the enemy's front is repeatedly changed in order to exchange its forces. When the enemy is defeated and has a chance to take advantage of it, all of them will be controlled. this plan is included in the fifth set of "war merging plan". It is intended to take advantage of the enemy's disadvantage in fighting and take the opportunity to annex his main force for his own use. This plan contains the tricks of intrigue and taking the opportunity to control others, so it is often used for political and diplomatic strategies. When Qin Shihuang called himself Emperor, he thought that the country and the mountains were unified, which was the family property of his descendants. However, he thought he was in good health, so he did not appoint a successor. There were two powerful political groups in the palace. One is the eldest son Fusu and Mengtian group, and the other is the younger son huhai and zhaogao group. Fusu is respectful, benevolent, upright and has a high reputation in the country. The first emperor of Qin intended to establish Fu Su as the prince. In order to train him, he sent him to the north line where the famous general Meng Tian was stationed as the supervisor. Hu Hai, the youngest son, had been spoiled for a long time. Under the instigation of eunuch Zhao Gao, he only knew how to eat, drink and have fun. In 210 BC, the first emperor of Qin made his fifth tour to the South and arrived at Pingyuan Jin (now near Pingyuan County in Shandong Province), where he suddenly fell ill. At this time, the first emperor of Qin also knew that his time was coming. So he called Li Si, the prime minister, to convey the secret imperial edict, and made Fu Su the crown prince. At that time, Zhao Gao, the eunuch leader, was in charge of the jade seal and drafting the imperial edict. Zhao gaozao was ambitious and saw this was a rare opportunity. He deliberately withheld the secret imperial edict and waited for the opportunity. A few days later, the first emperor of Qin Dynasty died in pingzhao (now Guangzong County, Hebei Province). Li Si was afraid that the political situation would be turbulent before the prince came back, so he did not mourn. Zhao Gao went to find Li Si and told him that the letter from the emperor to Fu Su was still with me. Now, you and I can decide who will be the crown prince. The cunning Zhao Gao explained his interests to Li Si, saying that if Fu Su became the emperor, he would certainly reuse Meng Tian. At that time, can you sit firmly as the prime minister? Li Si's words made him really excited. They conspired to make a fake imperial edict, gave Fu Su death and killed Meng Tian. Zhao Gao did not use a single soldier, but only used the means of stealing the beam and changing the pillar to help Hu Hai become the second emperor of Qin Dynasty, laying the foundation for his future dictatorship, and also laying the foundation for the destruction of Qin Dynasty.

Chinese PinYin : tōu liáng huàn zhù