三人成虎 (Sān rén chéng hǔ)
Lit. Three men talking makes a tiger (idiom)
Fig. Repeated rumor becomes a fact
From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=685
According to the “Zhan Guo Ce – Strategies of Wei, Second Chapter”, during the Warring States Period many of the states often attacked one another, which led them to become weakened and their people struggling to get by. In order to avoid long conflicts, some of the states inked friendly treaties with others, forming alliances and agreeing to not attack the other signatories. To show that they would absolutely adhere to their promise, the crown prince of one state would be sent to another to serve as hostage. In one particular case, the crown prince of Wei was sent to the State of Zhao as hostage, and the King of Wei also sent the high official Pang Cong (龐葱) along to accompany him.
Pang Cong knew there were often slanders made against him at the imperial court, and as he also did not know when he’d return from Zhao, he feared that the King of Wei would believe in these slanders. So that before he left for Zhao, Pang Cong went to see the King of Wei and said to him: “Your Majesty, if today there was someone who told you that a tiger had just appeared on the main street, would you believe him?” The King of Wei replied: “I would not believe him.” Pang Cong then asked: “If there was a second man who told you that a tiger had just appeared on the main street, would you then believe him?” The King of Wei replied: “Then I would be skeptical about this.” Pang Cong then continued to ask: “If there was a third man who told you that a tiger had just appeared on the main street, would you then believe him?” The King of Wei replied: “Then I would have to believe him.” Pang Cong then continued: “Tigers would never appear on the main street, this is clear and easy to see. But when there are many rumormongers, people cannot help but believe in them. After I travel to the State of Zhao, there will surely be many people who would take advantage of my absence to slander and criticize me in front of Your Majesty. I sincerely hope that Your Majesty can clearly differentiate truths from falsehoods and won’t be deceived by these rumors!” The King of Wei promised Pang Cong that he would do just that.
After Pang Cong left the State of Wei, many people indeed spoke ill of him in front of the King of Wei. Although the King did not believe these slanders in the beginning, his trust for Pang Cong began to erode as time went by. After the Crown Prince and Pang Cong returned to Wei, the King of Wei had become estranged from Pang Cong, and the latter never regain the King’s trust. Later, this story was condensed into “Three men talking makes a tiger”, and is used as a metaphor for repeated rumors or slanders, which could make people take something nonexistent to be true.
—– VOCABULARY —–
彼此 bǐ cǐ – each other; one another [[này nọ, bên này bên kia; hai bên; coi hai bên như một, không phân biệt]]
民不聊生 mín bù liáo shēng – (1) The people have no way to make a living (idiom, from Record of the Grand Historian 史記|史记[Shi3 ji4]); (2) no way of getting by
聊 liáo – to chat; to depend upon (literary); temporarily; just; slightly [[liêu: hãy, bèn, tạm hãy; hoảng, sợ; cẩu thả; ít, chút; nhờ, nương tựa; muốn, thích, nguyện ý; nói chuyện phiếm, nhàn đàm; chuyện vui, hứng thú]]
避免 bì miǎn – to avert; to prevent; to avoid; to refrain from
簽訂 qiān dìng – to agree to and sign (a treaty etc)
簽 qiān – to sign one’s name; visa [[thiêm: trích, rút ra (điểm quan trọng, ý kiến …); đề tên, kí tên; ra lệnh gọi, trưng tập; đầm vào, cắm vào; châm chích, phúng thích; khơi, dẫn (sông ngòi); món ăn chiên, rán; que ghim, cây xuyên; lượng từ: xâu; thẻ làm dấu]]
訂 dìng – to agree; to conclude; to draw up; to subscribe to (a newspaper etc); to order [[đính: bàn định, bàn luận; sửa cho đúng, cải chính; giao ước, kí kết; đóng (sách)]]
條約 tiáo yuē – treaty; pact [[điều ước, hiệp ước, thỏa thuận]]
諾言 nuò yán – promise
諾 nuò – to consent; to promise; (literary) yes! [[nặc: đáp ứng, ưng cho; lời ưng chịu; dạ, vâng, ừ; lời phê hoặc chữ viết thêm vào mặt sau văn thư ngày xưa, biểu thị ưng cho]]
人質 rén zhì – hostage
質 zhì – character; nature; quality; plain; to pawn; pledge; hostage; to question [[chất: bản thể của sự vật, gốc rễ, căn bản, đặc tính; bẩm tính trời cho; bản tính chất phác; hình vóc, thân thể; cái đích tập bắn; gông, một hình cụ thời xưa; lối văn tự mua bán; lời thề ước; hỏi, cật vấn, còn nghi ngờ nên hỏi lại; thật thà, mộc mạc]]
龐 páng – huge; enormous; tremendous [[bàng: cao lớn; rối ren, ngổn ngang, tạp loạn; mặt mày, diện mạo]]
葱, 蔥 cōng – scallion; green onion [[thông: hành (allium ascalonicum)]]
謠言 yáo yán – rumor
謠 yáo – popular ballad; rumor [[dao: bài hát lưu hành trong dân gian; bịa đặt, không có căn cứ]]
中傷 zhòng shāng – to slander; to smear
顯而易見 xiǎn ér yì jiàn – clearly and easy to see (idiom); obviously; clearly
不由得 bù yóu de – can’t help; cannot but
讒言 chán yán – slander; slanderous report; calumny; false charge
讒 chán – to slander; to defame; to misrepresent; to speak maliciously [[sàm: gièm pha, nói xấu]]
非議 fēi yì – to criticize
明察 míng chá – to note clearly; to perceive
蒙蔽 méng bì – to deceive; to hoodwink
蒙 mēng – to deceive; to cheat; to hoodwink; to make a wild guess
méng – to cover; ignorant; to suffer (misfortune); to receive (a favor); to cheat; drizzle; mist [[mông: che, đậy, trùm; bị, chịu, mắc, gặp, được; được nhờ, đội ơn (đối với người trên); lừa dối; chỗ tối; trẻ con]]
蔽 bì – to cover; to shield; to screen; to conceal [[tế: che, lấp, đậy; che chở, bảo vệ; bao gồm, bao trùm; bị cản trở, bị khuất lấp; xử quyết]]
疏遠 shū yuǎn – to drift apart; to become estranged; to alienate; estrangement
疏 shū – to dredge; to clear away obstruction; thin; sparse; scanty; distant (relation); not close; to neglect; negligent; to present a memorial to the Emperor; commentary; annotation [[sơ: khai thông; phân tán; trừ bỏ, thanh trừ; đục, chạm, khắc, vẽ; thưa, ít, lác đác; không thân, không gần gũi; lơ đễnh, không chú ý; rỗng không, không thật; thô xấu, không tinh tế; cửa sổ; hoa văn chạm khắc trên cửa sổ; rau trái; sớ – lời giải thích, bài giải nghĩa; tờ trình, tấu chương dâng lên vua]]
重複 chóng fù – to repeat; to duplicate
謂 wèi – to speak; to say; to name; to designate; meaning; sense [[vị: bảo, báo cho biết, nói với; bình luận, nói về; nói; gọi là, gọi rằng; cho là; là; nhẫn chịu; khiến, để cho; với, và; ý nghĩa]]
寡 guǎ – few; scant; widowed [[quả: ít; năm mươi tuổi mà chưa có chồng gọi là “quả”; góa chồng; lời nói nhún mình]]
大梁 Dà liáng – capital of Wei 魏 during Warring states
罷 bà – to stop; to cease; to dismiss; to suspend; to quit; to finish [[bãi: nghỉ, thôi; cách, bỏ, phế trừ; hết, chấm dứt; xong, rồi; thôi, nhé, …]]
儲 chǔ – to store; to save; to have in reserve; heir [[trữ: tích chứa, để dành; chờ đợi; thái tử, người sẽ kế thừa ngôi vua]]
競 jìng – to compete; to contend; to struggle [[cạnh: tranh luận; tranh đua; lòng muốn tranh mạnh cầu thắng; mạnh, cường thịnh]]
陪同 péi tóng – to accompany
前往 qián wǎng – to leave for; to proceed towards; to go
明顯 míng xiǎn – clear; distinct; obvious [[rõ ràng, rành mạch, rõ rệt, sáng sủa]]
傳播 chuán bō – to disseminate; to propagate; to spread [[truyền bá, tuyên truyền rộng rãi]]
播 bō – to sow; to scatter; to spread; to broadcast [[bá: gieo, vãi; ban bố, tuyên dương; truyền rộng ra; chia ra, phân khai, phân tán; dời đi, đi trốn; dao động]]
距離 jù lí – distance
非議 fēi yì – to criticize
明察秋毫 míng chá qiū háo – lit. seeing clearly the downy feather of autumn (idiom, from Mencius); fig. sensitive to the finest detail; to distinguish right and wrong with acuity; omniscient
誣陷 wū xiàn – to entrap; to frame; to plant false evidence against sb
誣 wū – to accuse falsely [[vu: lừa dối, không mà bảo là có; xằng bậy, hư vọng, không thật]]
陷 xiàn – pitfall; trap; to get stuck; to sink; to cave in; to frame (false charge); to capture (a city in battle); to fall (to the enemy); defect [[hãm: rơi vào, lún xuống, trụy; vùi lấp, tiêu mất, mai một; đánh lừa, đặt bẫy, đặt kế hại người; đâm thủng, đâm qua; đánh chiếm, bị đánh chiếm; hố, vực; khuyết điểm, lỗi lẫm]]
竟然 jìng rán – unexpectedly; to one’s surprise; in spite of everything; in that crazy way; actually; to go as far as to
信以為真 xìn yǐ wéi zhēn – to take sth to be true