Proverbs and Sayings

Point at a deer and call it a horse — One of the meanings of this proverb could be… Deliberately twisting the truth for ulterior motives. Source: Zhao Gao, the chief advisor of Emperor Qin Er Shi, was attempting to completely control the government. Thus, he devised a test of loyalty of the officials. Once, at a formal imperial gathering, he brought a deer in front of the stupid officials and called it a horse. Naturally, Qin Er Shi disagreed, but thought Zhao was joking. Some officials followed the emperor’s lead, while some followed Zhao’s lead. Zhao then took steps to eliminate the officials who refused to call the deer a horse. (This is a rough translation from a Chinese proverb)