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唱空城計

简唱空城计 · 繁唱空城計

Mandarin · pinyin chàng kōng chéng jì

(lit.) to sing "The Empty City Stratagem" (idiom)
(fig.) to put up a bluff to conceal one's weakness
(jocular) (of a place etc) to be empty; (of one's stomach) to be rumbling

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Characters in this entry

唱: chàng · sing, chant, call; ditty, song
空: kōng · empty, hollow, bare, deserted
城: chéng · castle; city, town; municipality
計: Look up this written character
计: jì · plan, plot; stratagem; scheme

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–1–2–4 · chang4 kong1 cheng2 ji4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

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唱空城計 · find source passages ↗ · 唱空城计 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb

(idiomatic) to run an Empty Fort Strategy (strategy to deceive the enemy into thinking that an empty location is full of traps and ambushes)
(idiomatic, of staff) to be almost completely absent

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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