Yan Qi Xi Gu (The Lower the Banners and Silence the Drums)

: The father and mother of Ding Lan of the Han dynasty died when Lan was young and never received...

: In 383 AD, King Fu Jian of the state of Qianqin in North China led an army of 870,000 men to...

: Cui Nanshan of the Tang dynasty had a great grandmother known as Madame Zhangsun (长孙夫人)....

In the Three Kingdoms Period, during a battle between Cao Cao and Liu Bei, the latter ordered his generals Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong to capture Cao Cao's supplies. Cao Cao led a large force against Zhao Yun, who retreated as far as the gates of his camp. There, he ordered that the banners be lowered and the war drums silenced, and that the camp gates be left wide open. Zhao Yun then stationed his troops in ambush nearly. When Cao Cao arrived and saw the situation, he immediately suspected a trap and withdrew his force.

This idiom is nowadays used to indicate metaphorically halting an attack or ceasing all activities.