play a double game(kǒu mì fù jiàn)

play a double game

Honey in the mouth and sword in the stomach is a Chinese idiom, pronounced K ǒ um ì f ù Ji à n, which describes people's insidious. It comes from Sima Guang's Zi Zhi Tong Jian, the first year of Emperor Xuanzong's Tianbao of Tang Dynasty: "you should not be a scholar of literature, who is good at Yang and good at Yang. You should eat sweet words and sink in Yin. The world said that Li Linfu had "honey in his mouth and sword in his belly."

essential information

[pronunciation] K ǒ um ì f ù Ji à n. It describes the cunning and insidious of the two sides.

source

In the first year of Tianbao, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, it is said that Li Linfu had honey in his mouth and sword in his belly

allusion

In Zi Zhi Tong Jian · Tang Ji · the first year of Emperor Xuanzong's Tianbao, Li Linfu is the prime minister. He is especially averse to literary scholars, who are either good at literature or good at literature, and indulge in sweet words. The world said that Li Linfu had honey in his mouth and sword in his belly Interpretation: it refers to a good mouth, sweet as honey, but with a conspiracy to harm people. Story: Li Linfu, the official residence of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, was "Minister of the Ministry of war" and "commander in chief", which was the position of prime minister. He is good at painting and calligraphy. But when it comes to morality, it's bad. He is afraid of talent and harm others. Anyone who is more talented than him, has a higher reputation than him, and has the same power and status as him, he will fight against them by all means. To Tang Xuanzong, he has a set of flattering ability. He tried his best to accommodate Xuanzong, and used various methods to please his trusted concubines and eunuchs, so as to win their favor and support, so as to keep his position. When Li Linfu came into contact with people, he always showed a friendly appearance and made some pleasant "good intentions" in his mouth. However, in fact, he was very cunning and often hurt people secretly. For example, once he pretended to be sincere and said to his colleague Li Shizhi, "Huashan produces a lot of gold. If it can be mined, it will greatly increase the wealth of the country. Unfortunately, the emperor did not know. Li Shizhi thought that this was true, so he ran to Xuanzong to suggest that the mining should be done quickly. Xuanzong was very happy and immediately asked Li Linfu to discuss it. But Li Linfu said, "I knew this for a long time. Huashan is the place where the emperors' geomantic omen are concentrated. How can we exploit it casually? I'm afraid it's not very kind of you to be advised to mine. I've tried to tell you about it several times, but I'm afraid to speak up. " Xuanzong was moved by his words and thought that he was really a loyal and patriotic minister. On the contrary, he was dissatisfied with Shizhi and gradually alienated him. In this way, with this special "skill", Li Linfu has been prime minister for 19 years. Later, when Sima Guang compiled Zi Zhi Tong Jian, he commented on Li Linfu and pointed out that he was a man with honey in his mouth and a sword in his stomach, which was very realistic.

example sentence

This guy is a friend for what he is doing. Ming Feng Ji by Wang Shizhen in Ming Dynasty

grammar

Combined; used as predicate and attribute; with derogatory meaning

Chinese PinYin : kǒu mì fù jiàn