投杼之疑 — “The doubt or suspicion that arises from repeated”

投杼之疑 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “the doubt or suspicion that arises from repeated”. Baseless rumors, illustrating how persistent falsehoods can eventually lead people to believe them, even about a trusted individual. Literally, “Doubt of throwing the shuttle”.

Frequency

投杼之疑 Pronunciation and Pinyin

投杼之疑 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
投	tóu	7	throw, cast, or invest
杼	zhù	8	loom shuttle; thin out
之	zhī	4	possessive or connective particle
疑	yí	14	doubt or suspect

Example Sentence with 投杼之疑

虽然他坚称自己无辜，但架不住旁人几次三番的添油加醋，最终导致大家对他产生了投杼之疑。

Although he vehemently denied the accusations, the repeated and embellished rumors from others eventually caused people to develop a 'throw-shuttle' doubt about his integrity.

Origin and Story of 投杼之疑

During the Spring and Autumn period, there was a man in the State of Lu who happened to have the same name as the great philosopher Zeng Shen. This man committed murder.

Soon after, someone rushed to Zeng Shen's mother and reported, 'Zeng Shen has killed a man!' Zeng's mother replied, 'My son would never commit murder,' and calmly continued weaving.

A short while later, another person came and again mistakenly reported that Zeng Shen had killed someone. This time, Zeng's mother began to feel uneasy.

When a third person arrived with the same false news, Zeng's mother became truly alarmed; she threw down her shuttle, climbed over the wall, and fled.