The "Inflicting Injury on Oneself" is one of the "Thirty-Six Stratagems" in ancient Chinese military strategy, originating from the story of Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." Its core meaning is to deliberately harm oneself or one's own people to win the enemy's trust, thereby carrying out a deeper scheme. In military terms, it is a type of deception that exploits the enemy's psychology of believing that "no one would harm themselves without reason," creating a false impression that causes the enemy to lower their guard. In modern contexts, this idiom is often used to describe the act of sacrificing oneself or one's own interests to gain the other party's sympathy or trust in order to achieve a certain goal. It carries a clear strategic connotation and is mostly used in scenarios such as competition, negotiation, or political struggle. Emotionally, it embodies both the wisdom of enduring humiliation for a greater cause and the implication of achieving one's goal by any means necessary. When using it, attention should be paid to the context to avoid misusing it as either praise or criticism.
📝 Example
1. To infiltrate the enemy's ranks, he staged a self-harm ruse, deliberately having his accomplice injure him, thereby winning the enemy's trust. (Referring to a ploy of deliberately injuring oneself to gain trust)
2. In business negotiations, he pretended that his company was on the verge of bankruptcy to drive down the other party's asking price, and this self-harm ruse indeed worked. (Referring to a strategy of feigning weakness or self-harm to mislead one's opponent)