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.

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.]

---

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.]

---

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' ."

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lǔyúhàishǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄨˇ ㄩˊ ㄏㄞˋ ㄕˇ

---

• 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⁾/

Idiom

魯魚亥豕

1. typographical errors caused by similar-looking characters