Traduction :
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
Référence :
郢：春秋战国时楚国的都城；书：信；燕：古诸侯国名；说：解释。比喻牵强附会，曲解原意。
Origine :
《韩非子·外储说左上》：“郢人有遗燕相国书者，夜书，火不明，因谓持烛者曰：‘举烛’，云而过书‘举烛’。……燕相白王，王大悦，国以治。治则治矣，非书意也。”
Exemple :
是不必然，亦不必不然，～，固未为无益。（清·纪昀《阅微草堂笔记》卷四）
Annotation :
郢书燕说1
1. yǐngshūyānshuō :
[EN] 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"
