三人成虎
Chinese
three man; person; people finish; complete; accomplish; become; turn into; win; succeed; one tenthtiger simp. and trad.
(三人成虎)三 人 成 虎
Etymology
A tale in Zhan Guo Ce:
-
- 龐葱與太子質於邯鄲，謂魏王曰：「今一人言市有虎，王信之乎？」王曰：「否。」「二人言市有虎，王信之乎？」王曰：「寡人疑之矣。」「三人言市有虎，王信之乎？」王曰：「寡人信之矣。」龐葱曰：「夫市之無虎明矣，然而三人言而成虎。今邯鄲去大梁也遠於市，而議臣者過於三人矣。願王察之矣。」王曰：「寡人自為知。」於是辭行，而讒言先至。後太子罷質，果不得見。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: Zhan Guo Ce, circa 5th – 3rd centuries BCE
- Páng Cōng yǔ tàizǐ zhì yú Hándān, wèi Wèi wáng yuē: “Jīn yī rén yán shì yǒu hǔ, wáng xìn zhī hū?” Wáng yuē: “Fǒu.” “èr rén yán shì yǒu hǔ, wáng xìn zhī hū?” Wáng yuē: “Guǎrén yí zhī yǐ.” “sān rén yán shì yǒu hǔ, wáng xìn zhī hū?” Wáng yuē: “Guǎrén xìn zhī yǐ.” Páng Cōng yuē: “Fú shì zhī wú hǔ míng yǐ, rán'ér sānrén yán ér chénghǔ. Jīn Hándān qù Dàliáng yě yuǎn yú shì, ér yì chén zhě guò yú sān rén yǐ. Yuàn wáng chá zhī yǐ.” Wáng yuē: “Guǎrén zì wéi zhī.” Yúshì cíxíng, ér chányán xiān zhì. Hòu tàizǐ bà zhì, guǒ bùdé jiàn. [Pinyin]
- Pang Cong (The king of Wei's minister) and the crown prince were to become hostages at Handan. (Before leaving,) he asked the king of Wei, "Now if one person said that there was a tiger in the market, would your majesty believe it?" The king said, "No." (Then, Pang Cong said,) "If two people said that there was a tiger in the market, would your majesty believe it?" The king responded, "I would be suspicious about it." (Finally, Pang Cong asked,) "If three people said that there was a tiger in the market, would your majesty believe it?" The king replied, "I would believe it." Pang Cong said, "Whereas it is clear that there is no tiger in the market, yet three people saying so produces the tiger. Now then, Handan is further away from Daliang (capital of the state of Wei) than the market, and the number of people that will slander me will be more than three. I hope that your majesty (is able to) see that!" The king said, "I (already) know (that without you having to tell me)." Thus, he bid (the king) farewell, but the slander had already started. Later on, the crown prince was released, but (Pang Cong) was not granted an audience (with the king of Wei). (Wiktionary translation)
庞葱与太子质于邯郸，谓魏王曰：“今一人言市有虎，王信之乎？”王曰：“否。”“二人言市有虎，王信之乎？”王曰：“寡人疑之矣。”“三人言市有虎，王信之乎？”王曰：“寡人信之矣。”庞葱曰：“夫市之无虎明矣，然而三人言而成虎。今邯郸去大梁也远于市，而议臣者过于三人矣。愿王察之矣。”王曰：“寡人自为知。”于是辞行，而谗言先至。后太子罢质，果不得见。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
-
Pronunciation
Proverb
三人成虎
- What you are told three times is true. If something is repeated by many individuals, it will be accepted as truth.
See also
This article is issued from
Wiktionary.
The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike.
Additional terms may apply for the media files.