魯魚亥豕

Chinese

		crass; place name	fish	12th earthly branch; 9–11 p.m.	hog; swine
trad. (魯魚亥豕)		魯	魚	亥	豕
simp. (鲁鱼亥豕)		鲁	鱼	亥	豕

Etymology

Confusing the character 魯 with 魚, and 亥 with 豕 in ancient scripts.

書字，人知之，猶尚寫之多誤。故諺曰，「書三寫，魚成魯，虛成虎，」此之謂也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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书字，人知之，犹尚写之多误。故谚曰，「书三写，鱼成鲁，虚成虎，」此之谓也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Ge Hong, c. 4th century, Baopuzi (《抱朴子》)

Shū zì, rén zhī zhī, yóu shàng xiě zhī duō wù. Gù yàn yuē, “shū sān xiě, yú chéng lǔ, xū chéng hǔ,” cǐ zhī wèi yě. [Pinyin]

Written characters, they are widely known to people, yet errors abound in written texts. Referring to this, an idiom goes: "After many rounds of copying, a fish (魚) gets foolhardy (魯), but the empty (虛) one becomes a tiger (虎)."

嘗返衛，見讀史志者云：「晉師伐秦，三豕渡河。」子夏曰：「非也，己亥耳。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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尝返卫，见读史志者云：「晋师伐秦，三豕渡河。」子夏曰：「非也，己亥耳。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The School Sayings of Confucius, c. 206 BCE– 220 CE

Cháng fǎn Wèi, jiàn dú shǐ zhì zhě yún: “Jìn shī fá Qín, sān shǐ dù Hé.” Zǐ Xià yuē: “Fēi yě, Jǐ Hài ěr.” [Pinyin]

Zi Xia, back in Wey, met someone reading historical annals aloud as such: "The armies of Jin attacked Qin; three pigs crossed the Yellow River." On hearing this, he said: "That's wrong. The text should read 'on the day of Ji-Hai' ."

子夏之晉，過衛，有讀史記者曰：「晉師三豕涉河。」子夏曰：「非也，是己亥也。夫『己』與『三』相近，『豕』與『亥』相似。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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子夏之晋，过卫，有读史记者曰：「晋师三豕涉河。」子夏曰：「非也，是己亥也。夫『己』与『三』相近，『豕』与『亥』相似。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Lü Buwei, Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, 239 BCE

Zǐ Xià zhī jìn, guò wèi, yǒu dú shǐjì zhě yuē: “Jìn shī sān shǐ shè hé.” Zǐ Xià yuē: “Fēi yě, shì jǐhài yě. Fū ‘jǐ’ yǔ ‘sān’ xiàngjìn, ‘shǐ’ yǔ ‘hài’ xiàngsì.” [Pinyin]

When Zi Xia stopped at Wei on the way to Jin, he met someone reading historical books aloud as “three pigs of the Jin army crossed the Yellow River”. Zixia said, “No, it was 'on the day of Ji-Hai' . The characters 己 (earth in sexagenary cycle) and 三 (three) look similar to each other, so as 豕 (pig) and 亥 (pig in sexagenary cycle).”

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lǔyúhàishǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄨˇ ㄩˊ ㄏㄞˋ ㄕˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lou⁵ jyu⁴ hoi⁶ ci²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lǔyúhàishǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄨˇ ㄩˊ ㄏㄞˋ ㄕˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lǔyúhàishǐh
    • Wade–Giles: lu³-yü²-hai⁴-shih³
    • Yale: lǔ-yú-hài-shř
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: luuyuhayshyy
    • Palladius: луюйхайши (lujujxajši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lu²¹⁴⁻²¹ y³⁵ xaɪ̯⁵¹ ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: lou⁵ jyu⁴ hoi⁶ ci²
    • Yale: lóuh yùh hoih chí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lou⁵ jy⁴ hoi⁶ tsi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: lou⁵ yu⁴ hoi⁶ qi²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lou̯¹³ jyː²¹ hɔːi̯²² t͡sʰiː³⁵/

Idiom

魯魚亥豕

1. typographical errors caused by similar-looking characters

Synonyms

• 魯魚帝虎 / 鲁鱼帝虎 (lǔyúdìhǔ)

See also

• (Japanese) 已己巳己