郢书燕说

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"

Ying, ancient capital of Chu 楚 in Hubei, Jianling county 江陵縣|江陵县

abbr. for 書經|书经[Shu1 jing1]

book / letter / document / CL:本[ben3],冊|册[ce4],部[bu4] / to write

Yan, a vassal state of Zhou in modern Hebei and Liaoning / north Hebei / the four Yan kingdoms of the Sixteen Kingdoms, namely: Former Yan 前燕[Qian2 Yan1] (337-370), Later Yan 後燕|后燕[Hou4 Yan1] (384-409), Southern Yan 南燕[Nan2 Yan1] (398-410), Northern Yan 北燕[Bei3 Yan1] (409-436) / surname Yan

swallow (family Hirundinidae) / old variant of 宴[yan4]

variant of 燕[yan4]

to persuade

to speak / to say / to explain / to scold / to tell off / a theory (typically the last character in a compound, as in 日心說|日心说 heliocentric theory)

variant of 說|说[shuo1]

to speak; to talk; to say / to explain; to comment / to scold; to tell off / (bound form) theory; doctrine