"To catch something, first let it go" literally means that if you want to capture someone, you deliberately let them go first. Its deeper meaning refers to temporarily relaxing one's grip in order to achieve the ultimate goal of control or capture, causing the other party to lower their guard and thus making it easier to succeed. This strategy comes from the sixteenth stratagem in The Thirty-Six Stratagems, whose original text reads: "Press him too hard, and he will fight back; let him go, and his momentum will diminish. Follow closely but do not press too hard; wear down his strength, erode his fighting spirit, scatter his forces, and then capture him without bloodshed." It emphasizes that in military affairs one should not press the enemy too hard, lest they fight desperately in a last stand, but should deliberately leave a way out and wait until their morale is shattered and their strength weakened before capturing them in one stroke. Today it is widely used in military, political, business negotiation, interpersonal communication, and other fields to describe a roundabout and ingenious way of handling matters. This idiom is neutral with a slight positive connotation and is often used to praise a strategy as brilliant and far-sighted, but it can also be used to criticize calculated behavior that deliberately casts a long line to catch a big fish. When using it, one should pay attention to the context and avoid confusing it with "letting the tiger return to the mountain," which emphasizes the disastrous consequences of letting an enemy go, whereas "to catch something, first let it go" emphasizes that letting go is the means and capture is the goal.
📝 Example
1. During the negotiations, he deliberately made concessions, deliberately letting the other side off in order to catch them later, and ultimately signed the contract on more favorable terms. (This sentence means that he temporarily yielded in order to ultimately reach a more favorable agreement.)
2. The police deliberately let the criminal gang off in order to catch them later, first releasing a minor leader, and then following the clues to destroy the entire organization. (This sentence means that the police deliberately relaxed their efforts for a step so as to catch them all in one net.)