凿空指鹿 — Chinese Idiom
凿空指鹿 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to fabricate groundless claims and intentionally misrepresent facts, confounding truth with falsehood; to deliberately call a deer a horse without any basis”.
凿空指鹿 Pronunciation and Pinyin
凿空指鹿 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 凿空指鹿
Origin and Story of 凿空指鹿
During the late Qin Dynasty, the eunuch Zhao Gao, after Emperor Qin Shi Huang's death, forged an imperial edict ordering Fusu to commit suicide and establishing Hu Hai as the crown prince.
Zhao Gao also harbored ambitions to usurp the throne. He deliberately presented a deer to Qin Er Shi (Hu Hai) as a horse. Hu Hai recognized it as a deer, but Zhao Gao instructed him to ask his officials.
Some officials, intimidated by Chancellor Zhao Gao's power, unwillingly called it a deer. However, those who insisted it was a deer were later persecuted and killed by Zhao Gao.
Idioms Related to 凿空指鹿
Synonyms of 凿空指鹿
More idioms starting with 凿
- záo凿záo凿kě可jù据solidly verifiable and usable as evidence
- záo凿záo凿yǒu有jù据supported by solid evidence
- záo凿yuán圆ruì枘fāng方fundamentally incompatible
- záo凿pī坏yǐ以dùn遁live in seclusion and withdraw from official life
- záo凿pī坏ér而dùn遁withdraw from public life
- záo凿pī坯ér而dùn遁live in seclusion, refuse official appointments
- záo凿bì壁jiè借guāng光study diligently despite poverty
- záo凿bì壁tōu偷guāng光study diligently despite poverty
- záo凿bì壁xuán悬liáng梁study diligently despite hardship
- záo凿zhù柱qǔ取shū书uphold ancestral teachings
- záo凿yíng楹nà纳shū书meticulously preserve books for posterity
- záo凿pò破hún浑dùn沌Disrupt natural order, causing harm
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Open the tool →Questions about 凿空指鹿
What does 凿空指鹿 mean?
凿空指鹿 (záo kōng zhǐ lù) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to fabricate groundless claims and intentionally misrepresent facts, confounding truth with falsehood; to deliberately call a deer a horse without any basis”.
How do you pronounce 凿空指鹿?
凿空指鹿 is pronounced záo kōng zhǐ lù in Mandarin Chinese.
Where does 凿空指鹿 come from?
凿空指鹿 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 凿空指鹿?
凿空：凭空；指鹿：指鹿为马。指凭空有意颠倒黑白，混淆是非