







鱼龙混杂 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “a motley crowd”. A mixed bag of people, where good and bad are intermingled; a jumble of good and bad elements. Literally, “Fish and dragons mixed together”.
During the Spring and Autumn period, Wu Zixu, whose father and elder brother were killed by King Ping of Chu, fled to the State of Wu.
He told King Helü of Wu that in Chu, right and wrong were indistinguishable, good and bad were inversed, and people were a mixed lot, like fish and dragons. He incited King Helü to attack Chu.
Wu Zixu led the army to five victories, eventually reaching Yingdu, the capital of Chu. King Ping of Chu had already died, but to avenge his father's death, Wu Zixu exhumed the king's corpse and flogged it.

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Open the tool →鱼龙混杂 (yú lóng hùn zá) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “a motley crowd”.
鱼龙混杂 is pronounced yú lóng hùn zá in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 鱼龙混杂 means “Fish and dragons mixed together”. It is used to mean “a motley crowd”.
鱼龙混杂 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
比喻坏人和好人混在一起。