'Play a pig to eat a tiger:' gaining the upper hand by deception
Some people may recall the 2005 American comedy film “The Ringer,” which tells the story of a young man who poses as a disabled athlete to try to pay off his debts by winning a prize at the Special Olympics.
When the movie was dubbed into Chinese, someone translated its title by using a popular Chinese proverb: banzhu chilaohu, or literally “to play a pig to eat a tiger.”
扮猪吃老虎
bàn zhū chī lǎo hǔ
The translation is plausible since it captures the essence of entering a competition or game under false pretenses. In English, “ringer” refers to someone who resembles someone else.
The Chinese saying describes a hunting scene where a hunter, seeing little opportunity in capturing a tiger in a head-on confrontation, hides himself behind a pile of grass. Then he makes the grunting sounds of a pig to lure the tiger closer to him.
When the big cat is only a few inches away, the hunter jumps out and launches a surprise attack, trying to incapacitate or even kill the animal.
In Chinese history, there have been many stories depicting such behavior and involving numbers of famous historical figures who played dumb to bewilder strong opponents and avoid injury. When the latter finally let their guard down, the pretenders would suddenly blindside and crush them.
This Chinese proverb, however, sounds too voguish to be ancient.
Also, some people have even playfully listed it as one of the new “Thirty-Six Stratagems,” referring to an ancient essay on strategies used in politics, war and civil interaction.
