Reassure the enemy to make it slack, work in secret to subdue it; prepare fully before taking action to prevent the enemy from changing its mind: This is the method of hiding a strong will under a compliant appearance.

The idiom represents an archetype in world literature: a person with a smiling face and a cruel heart, dubbed a “smiling tiger” in Chinese folklore.

In everyday life, one grows wise after being tricked by a smiling tiger. In warfare, such belated wisdom has little or no use, for it may have been bought at such a high price that one can no longer afford the remedy. Therefore, before the outcome of war becomes apparent, a peace-making message is to be almost invariably regarded with suspicion. Thus, an overconfident enemy general is needed for the successful application of this strategy.