郢書燕說
Simplified:
郢书燕说
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lit. Ying writes a letter and Yan reads it
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fig. to misinterpret the original meaning
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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"
Character by character
Sources