巧取豪夺 — “To acquire by trickery or by force”

Mi Youren, courtesy name Yuanhui, was the son of Mi Fu, a renowned calligrapher and painter during the Song Dynasty. Following in his father's footsteps, Mi Youren was also a skilled calligrapher and painter, with a particular fondness for ancient artworks.

Once, while on someone else's boat, he saw an authentic calligraphy piece by Wang Xizhi. Overjoyed, he immediately offered a fine painting in exchange. When the owner refused, Mi Youren became so distraught that he cried out and lunged towards the water, clinging to the boat's side. Fortunately, others quickly restrained him, preventing him from falling in.

Mi Youren possessed a remarkable talent: he was exceptionally skilled at imitating ancient paintings. During his time in Lianshui, he once borrowed a "Pine and Ox Painting" from someone to copy. Later, he kept the original and returned his copy, which the owner initially didn't notice. It was only many days later that the owner came back to demand the original. Mi Youren asked how he could tell the difference. The owner replied, "In the eyes of the ox in the original, there is a reflection of a shepherd boy, but your copy lacks it."

However, Mi Youren's imitations of ancient paintings were rarely discovered as fakes. He frequently went to great lengths to borrow ancient paintings for reproduction. After making a copy, he would always present both the original and his copy to the owner, inviting them to choose. Because his imitation skills were so exquisite, making the copy virtually identical to the original, owners often mistakenly took the copy as the genuine article. This was how Mi Youren acquired many precious original ancient paintings.

While Mi Youren was a talented artist deserving of respect and an admirer who helped people appreciate the beauty and value of ancient art, his method of cleverly swapping fake copies for genuine originals was utterly contemptible. Therefore, some people referred to his act of skillfully deceiving others to obtain their genuine ancient paintings as "巧偷豪夺" (qiaotou haoduo - skillfully stealing and forcibly seizing). Later generations extended this to the idiom "巧取豪夺" (qiaoqu haoduo - skillfully taking and forcibly seizing), used to describe people who use various improper and cunning methods to acquire wealth or property they do not deserve.

"巧取" refers to acquiring by artifice or trickery, and "豪夺" refers to seizing by force or ruthlessly. This method of acquiring wealth often yields significant gains, as noted in "Qingbo Zazhi": "巧偷豪夺, 故所得多多" (skillfully stealing and forcibly seizing, thus obtaining much). For instance, charlatans, using divine objects as a pretext, often conjure up various pretexts, such as performing rituals, to swindle money from ignorant people. Such acquisition for personal gain is precisely what "巧取豪夺" describes.