郢書燕說 [－书－说]

Jyutping jing5 syu1 jin1 syut3
Pinyin yǐng shū yān yuè

Definitions (Wiktionary)
  1. phrase, idiomatic
    to misinterpret the original meaning; to distort the meaning in order to fit one's ideas; to pile up errors

郢書燕說 [－书－说]

Jyutping jing5 syu1 jin1 syut3
Pinyin yǐng shū yān shuō

Definitions (CC-CEDICT)
  1. lit. Ying writes a letter and Yan reads it
  2. fig. to misinterpret the original meaning
  3. to pile up errors
  4. 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"
Definitions (Wiktionary)
  1. phrase, idiomatic
    to misinterpret the original meaning; to distort the meaning in order to fit one's ideas; to pile up errors