dĩ đào vi thượng sách

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

Flight is the best of the thirty-six stratagems — when all plans fail, the one that saves you is leaving.

Literally: take escape as the supreme plan

Examples

Thấy không xong thì dĩ đào vi thượng sách.When it turns bad, the best stratagem is the door.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

Sources & notes

Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “dĩ đào vi thượng sách” mean?

Flight is the best of the thirty-six stratagems — when all plans fail, the one that saves you is leaving. Literally: take escape as the supreme plan

Is “dĩ đào vi thượng sách” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.