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I know that "bamboos are hollow and compartmentalized". "A bamboo rod has an empty middle". But I still cannot connect the dots! I can't think up any relation between bamboo + filch or swindling.
https://www.wordsense.eu/%E7%AB%B9%E6%A7%93/
Noun 竹槓
- thick bamboo pole
- (figurative) rip-off
https://www.omgchinese.com/dictionary/chinese/%E7%AB%B9%E6%A7%93
COMMON WORDS WITH 竹槓
extortion by taking advantage of sb's weakness ( 敲竹杠 )
"敲竹杠" is used to describe the unethical action of "bribery", "holdup for outsized reward", and "cheating by escalating selling price on unsophisticated customers".
@Tang Ho has provided the story for the "bribery" aspect of the term, the two short stories cover the aspects of "holdup" and "cheat".
四川山区，有钱人进山烧香时乘坐着一种用竹杆做的滑杆，滑杆由人抬着。走到半山腰抬滑杆的人就敲着滑杠，要求加工钱，否则就不抬人，乘坐滑杆的只好加钱。
清朝末年上海城里有家店铺，老板很不老实，陌生顾客进门，往往随意提价。每当伙计在接待顾客时，店主就敲竹杠一下，示意提价.
竹槓 literally means "bamboo rod"
槓 in Cantonese sounds like 降 (down) which reminds people of 降職 (demote). Some superstitious people changed 槓 to 昇 (rise) and called it 竹昇
敲竹槓 is common slang for 'extort' or 'blackmail'
There are four different explanations of how this term came to be. The most believable one is the following because it fits the modern usage of the term 敲竹槓 (extort/ blackmai) the most
説法二
清朝末年，鴉片走私十分嚴重，走私販子為躲避關卡檢查，挖空心思藏匿鴉片。水上走私的販子把毒品密藏在竹製的船篙裏，隨船從水路運往各地。一天，一艘商船駛至浙江紹興碼頭，緝私官帶人上船檢查，查遍了船艙的每個角落也沒發現鴉片。這時，一個師爺吸着長煙筒，漫不經心地走到船艄，信手在撐船的竹篙上敲煙灰，敲得竹篙“嘟嘟”直響，別人沒有反應，船主卻嚇得面色大變，知道師爺已看透了秘密，慌忙把這位師爺請到後艙，掏出大把的銀子悄悄塞給他，請他關照，不要再敲竹篙了。師爺得到銀子便沒説什麼，隨緝私人員下船去了。此後，“敲竹槓”便成了訛詐財物的代名詞，並一直沿用下來。
(Opium smugglers hid their goods in bamboo rods. Someone saw through it and tapped on their bamboo rods in front of the inspectors to extort the smugglers who then pulled him aside and paid him for his silence)
