偷梁换柱

Pronunciation: tōu liáng huàn zhù Literal meaning: Steal beam swap pillar

Origin & Usage

This is the twenty-fifth of the Thirty-Six Stratagems: stealing (偷) the beams (梁) and swapping (换) the pillars (柱) while the building still stands. The substitution is made inside a structure that keeps its outward form, so that nothing appears to have changed until weight is put on it. A quiet swap of something load-bearing behind a surface that still looks right — and the discovery always comes late.

Examples

English: "The investigation revealed that key data had been subtly altered"

Chinese: 调查显示关键数据被巧妙地篡改了