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口蜜腹劍 (Kǒumìfùjiàn)


Daimashin

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口蜜腹劍 (Kǒumìfùjiàn) - Hidden agenda.

Literal Meaning - Mouth honey, stomach sword.

During the Tang Dynasty, a gold mine was discovered at the Hua Mountain by an official by the name of "李林甫"(Lilínfu). Discovery of such a thing should have been reported to the Emperor but he didn't. Instead, he told his arch enemy "李適之"(Lishìzhī) about it and asked that Lishìzhī be the one to tell the Emperor. Lishìzhī being an honest person went ahead and reported to the Emperor about the gold mine. The Emperor then summoned Lilínfu to inquire about it. Lilínfu said that he knew about this but didn't disclose it was because Hua Mountain was the heart of the Tang Dynasty, and to mine there was to destroy the empire. The Emperor was furious upon hearing it and had Lishìzhī demoted because the Emperor thought that Lishìzhī wanted to topple the empire.

口蜜腹劍 (Kǒumìfùjiàn) means something sounds sweet on the surface but is actually a trap.

Example:

"此人「口蜜腹劍」 表面上跟你說會跟你合作. 其實他是有別的目的, 千萬不要相信他."

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