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郢书燕说

Yǐng shū Yān shuō

4-character word Traditional 郢書燕說

What 郢书燕说 means

1. lit. Ying writes a letter and Yan reads it
2. fig. to misinterpret the original meaning
3. to pile up errors
4. refers to the letter from capital {郢|Yǐng} of {楚|Chǔ} in which the inadvertent words "hold up the candle" are mistaken by the minister of {燕|Yān} as "promote the wise"

The characters in 郢书燕说

• 郢YǐngYing, ancient capital of Chu 楚 in Hubei, Jianling county 江陵县
• 书shūbook; letter; document
• 燕yànswallow (family Hirundinidae); old variant of 宴
• 说shuōto speak; to talk; to say; to explain; to comment; to scold; to tell off

Go deeper

• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read Yǐng shū Yān shuō correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.