Chinese Idiom of the Day #001
Idiom the First
Calling a Stag a Horse (Lit. ‘Point deer as/is horse’)
Story behind the idiom:
During the reign of the second emperor of the Qin Dynasty (Qin Er Shi), his chief minister, a eunuch called Zhao Gao, exerted great influence over the court. He started to plot to usurp the throne. Fearing that other ministers would oppose this, he readied a test for them.
When they were assembled in front of the emperor, he brought out a deer as a gift and said “This is a horse.”
The emperor laughed, and replied “You must be joking; this is a deer!”
Zhao turned to the ministers and said “Well, tell the Emperor… is this a deer or a horse?”
Some ministers kept silent, some said that it was a deer and others agreed that it was indeed a horse. Those who hadn’t called it a horse were promptly executed
Meaning of the Idiom: Distorting facts, calling black white and white black.