郢jing5書syu1燕jin1說syut3

simp郢书燕说

jing5 syu1 jin1 syut3Yǐng shū Yān shuō

English

lit. Ying writes a letter and Yan reads it
fig. to misinterpret the original meaning
to pile up errors
refers to the letter from capital 郢[Ying3] of 楚[Chu3] in which the inadvertent words "hold up the candle" are mistaken by the minister of 燕[Yan1] as "promote the wise"

Sources: cc-cedict, rime-cantonese

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