Calling A Deer A Horse
One Chinese idiom that is derived from an incident involving Zhao is "calling a deer a horse" (simplified Chinese: 指鹿为马; traditional Chinese: 指鹿為馬; pinyin: zhǐ lù wéi mǎ), meaning "deliberate misrepresentation for ulterior purposes". The Shiji records that Zhao, in an attempt to control the government, devised a loyalty test for court officials using a deer and horse:
Zhao Gao was contemplating treason but was afraid the other officials would not heed his commands, so he decided to test them first. He brought a deer and presented it to the Second Emperor but called it a horse. The Second Emperor laughed and said, "Is the chancellor perhaps mistaken, calling a deer a horse?" Then the emperor questioned those around him. Some remained silent, while some, hoping to ingratiate themselves with Zhao Gao, said it was a horse, and others said it was a deer. Zhao Gao secretly arranged for all those who said it was a deer to be brought before the law. Thereafter the officials were all terrified of Zhao Gao. (tr. Watson 1993:70)
Read more about this topic: Zhao Gao
Famous quotes containing the words calling a, calling, deer and/or horse:
“Calling a taxi in Texas is like calling a rabbi in Iraq.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)
“[T]he most artful method [of courtship] would be this, to tell her that what she doth not possess is useless and contemptible, that weakness and imperfection is the perfection of a woman, that I am stark mad in love with ignorance; and thus shall I allure her by calling her [a] fool.”
—Sarah Fielding (1710–1768)
“Shall the dog lie where the deer once crouched?”
—Nell Gwynn (c. 1650–1687)
“Love and marriage, love and marriage
Go together like a horse and carriage
Dad was told by mother
You can’t have one without the other.”
—Sammy Cahn (1913–1993)