口蜜腹劍
See also: 口蜜腹剑
Chinese
| mouth; (a measure word, for people, livestock or utensils) | honey | abdomen; stomach; belly | (double-edged) sword | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (口蜜腹劍) | 口 | 蜜 | 腹 | 劍 | |
| simp. (口蜜腹剑) | 口 | 蜜 | 腹 | 剑 | |
| Literally: “honey from the mouth, a sword from the belly”. | |||||
Etymology
First used for describing Li Linfu, a Tang politician:
- 李林甫為相，尤忌文學之士，或陽與之善，啖以甘言而陰陷之。世謂李林甫「口有蜜，腹有劍。」 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
- From: 1084 CE, Sima Guang, Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government
- Lǐ Línfǔ wèi xiàng, yóu jì wénxué zhī shì, huò yáng yǔ zhī shàn, dàn yǐ gān yán ér yīn xiàn zhī. Shì wèi Lǐ Línfǔ “kǒu yǒu mì, fù yǒu jiàn.” [Pinyin]
- Li Linfu was the Grand Chancellor. He was envious of those people with knowledge. He pretended to be nice to those people, spoke sweet words with them but defamed them secretly. Therefore, Li Linfu was said to be with honey on the mouth but a sword inside his heart.
李林甫为相，尤忌文学之士，或阳与之善，啖以甘言而阴陷之。世谓李林甫“口有蜜，腹有剑。” [Literary Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
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