朝三暮四 — “Three in the morning, four in the evening”
朝三暮四 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be fickle and inconsistent, constantly changing one's mind or decisions, often about trivial matters; it can also refer to deceiving others by making superficial changes that do not alter the fundamental reality”. Literally, “Three in the morning, four in the evening”.
朝三暮四 Pronunciation and Pinyin
- 朝zhāo
- 三sān
- 暮mù
- 四sì
朝三暮四 Character Breakdown
Example Sentence with 朝三暮四
Origin and Story of 朝三暮四
During the Warring States period, there was an old man in the State of Song who kept many monkeys in his courtyard. Over time, the old man and the monkeys could even communicate with each other.
The old man used to give each monkey four chestnuts in the morning and four in the evening.
A few years later, the old man's finances became increasingly tight, while the number of monkeys grew. So, he decided to reduce the daily chestnuts from eight to seven.
He discussed it with the monkeys, saying, "From today on, I will give you three chestnuts in the morning and four in the evening. What do you think?" Upon hearing this, the monkeys all thought that the morning portion was reduced by one. They started chattering loudly and jumping around, seemingly very displeased.
Seeing their reaction, the old man quickly changed his words, saying, "Alright then, I will give you four in the morning and three in the evening. How about that?" The monkeys heard this and, thinking that the morning chestnuts had increased from three to four, making it the same as before, were overjoyed and started rolling around on the ground.
Idioms Related to 朝三暮四
Synonyms of 朝三暮四
More idioms starting with 朝
- zhāo朝sān三mù暮èr二to be inconsistent or indecisive
- zhāo朝bù不bǎo保xī夕live precariously, not knowing what future holds
- zhāo朝bù不bǎo保mù暮living precariously, unable to guarantee the future
- zhāo朝bù不jí及xī夕precarious situation, uncertain survival
- cháo朝bù不tú图xī夕live from hand to mouth
- zhāo朝bù不lǜ虑xī夕live precariously, not knowing what tomorrow holds
- zhāo朝bù不móu谋xī夕living precariously, unable to plan ahead
- cháo朝dōng东mù暮xī西constantly changing one's mind
- cháo朝zhōng中yǒu有rén人hǎo好zuò做guān官Connections make it easy to succeed
- zhāo朝qián乾xī夕tì惕diligent and vigilant day and night
- zhāo朝qián乾xī夕dàng愓diligent and cautious all day long
- zhāo朝yún云mù暮yǔ雨brief romantic encounter
Questions about 朝三暮四
- What does 朝三暮四 mean?
- 朝三暮四 (zhāo sān mù sì) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be fickle and inconsistent, constantly changing one's mind or decisions, often about trivial matters; it can also refer to deceiving others by making superficial changes that do not alter the fundamental reality”.
- How do you pronounce 朝三暮四?
- 朝三暮四 is pronounced zhāo sān mù sì in Mandarin Chinese.
- What does 朝三暮四 literally mean?
- Literally, 朝三暮四 means “Three in the morning, four in the evening”. It is used to mean “to be fickle and inconsistent, constantly changing one's mind or decisions, often about trivial matters; it can also refer to deceiving others by making superficial changes that do not alter the fundamental reality”.
- Where does 朝三暮四 come from?
- 朝三暮四 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
- What is the Chinese definition of 朝三暮四?
- 原指玩弄手法欺骗人。后用来比喻常常变卦，反复无常。