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This is one of the famous 36 Stratagems which is a series of stratagems used in politics, war, as well as in civil interaction, often through unorthodox or deceptive means.
In spite of the inferiority of your forces, deliberately make your defensive
line defenseless in order to confuse the enemy. The enemy may assume you are setting up an ambush, leading them to flee of their own accord.
A famous story about the empty city stratagem is from Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang is a name that almost every Chinese knows. He seems to be the embodiment of wits and wisdom. He is often recognised as the greatest and most accomplished strategist of his era. The following is an episode about Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang was a great strategist and statesman during the Three-Kingdoms period (220-265) in ancient China. He served as the Chancellor of the Shu Kingdom. 228 A.D, On hearing a city on the Shu`s borderline had just stationed less than 2,500 soldiers. General Sima Yi, a cunning statesman and also a great strategist of the Wei Kingdom led his 150,000 troops to besiege and try to capture it.
The Empty City Stratagem
Hearing the report of the coming Wei army. every one in the city was at a loss. It would have been too late to call in support from other cities. Zhuge Liang made an unprecedented daring decision. He had the citizens and troops evacuated the city, leaving the city gate wide open and had a few aged people cleaning the streets.
When Sima Yi arrived. he only saw an empty city with a wide open gate, plus a Zhuge Liang sitting on the battlements playing his zither with great composure. Two pageboys were waiting on him.
General Sima Yi thought he had to be very cautious when dealing with Zhuge Liang. He tried to tell from the nuance of the music whether the city was truly empty, or if Shu soldiers hid within it. But not a single element of anxiety was detected. As he listened, Sima Yi found himself in a quandary. All of a sudden, the tranquil music took a turn and become quite violent, which sounded to the hesitating Sima Yi`s ears like the horn for attack. He decided this was a trick of Zhuge Liang`s to tempt his army into an ambush, and so ordered a withdrawal. The general concluded that Zhuge Liang must have deployed strong forces inside the city, or he wouldn`t have the city gate wide open. What he did not know was that the city was actually empty with no defenses at all.
The empty stratagem helped the Kingdom of Shu to avoid another defeat and ultimate destruction.
 The Thirty-Six Stratagems were first published in the western world by Harro von Senger from Switzerland after he heard the Chinese proverb "If all else fails, retreat" at Taipei University.
Related Article:
Sun Tzu - The Art of War
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