三豕涉河 — “Refers to a textual error”
三豕涉河 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “refers to a textual error”. Misprint, or corrupted transcription caused by the confusion of similar-looking characters. Literally, “Three pigs cross the river”.
三豕涉河 Pronunciation and Pinyin
三豕涉河 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 三豕涉河
Origin and Story of 三豕涉河
During the Spring and Autumn period, Zixia, a disciple of Confucius, traveled to the State of Jin.
Passing through the State of Wei, he heard someone reading from a history book: "The Jin army three pigs crossed the river." Zixia corrected him, saying: "You are mistaken; it should not be 'three pigs' (三豕) but 'Yi Hai' (己亥), because the character '已' (ji) looks similar to '三' (san, three), and '亥' (hai) looks similar to '豕' (shi, pig)."
Later, that person went to the State of Jin to verify, and indeed, the Jin army had crossed the river in the 'Yi Hai' year.
Idioms Related to 三豕涉河
Synonyms of 三豕涉河
More idioms starting with 三
- sān三sān三liǎng两liǎng两in small groups
- sān三sān三wǔ五wǔ五in small scattered groups
- sān三sān三sì四sì四in small groups
- sān三xià下wǔ五chú除èr二do something quickly and efficiently
- sān三bù不niù拗liù六the minority cannot overrule the majority
- sān三bù不zhī知utterly ignorant of something
- sān三gè个chòu臭pí皮jiang匠，，hé合chéng成yí一gè个zhū诸gě葛liàng亮Collective wisdom is powerful
- sān三gè个chòu臭pí皮jiang匠，，sài赛guò过zhū诸gě葛liàng亮Collective wisdom surpasses individual genius
- sān三wǔ五chéng成qún群in small groups
- sān三qīn亲liù六gù故relatives and old friends
- sān三qīn亲liù六juàn眷all one's relatives
- sān三qīn亲sì四juàn眷all one's relatives and kinsfolk
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Open the tool →Questions about 三豕涉河
What does 三豕涉河 mean?
三豕涉河 (sān shǐ shè hé) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “refers to a textual error”.
How do you pronounce 三豕涉河?
三豕涉河 is pronounced sān shǐ shè hé in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 三豕涉河 literally mean?
Literally, 三豕涉河 means “Three pigs cross the river”. It is used to mean “refers to a textual error”.
Where does 三豕涉河 come from?
三豕涉河 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 三豕涉河?
比喻文字传写或刊印讹误。