Idiom Explanation:
A Monkeydressed up as a human. It is a metaphor for having instruments or status in vain without real skills. It can also describe a bad person dressed up as a good person.
Pronunciation:
沐猴而冠
mù hóu ér guàn
Origin:
西汉·司马迁《史记·项羽本纪》：“人言楚人沐猴而冠耳，果然。”
Story:
At the end of the Qin Dynasty, various rebellious armies rose up against the Qin and the world was in chaos. The insurgents fought against the Qin army in different parts of the country without a unified command, so they agreed that whoever could enter Xianyang first and overthrow the tyranny of the Qin dynasty would be the king of Guanzhong.
Among these rebel generals, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were the most powerful. Although Liu Bang was from a humble background, he was good at employing people, so he had many powerful assistants. Xiang Yu himself was a warlike general, so he led the strongest rebel army. However, Xiang Yu was headstrong and self-opinionated and did not like to listen to others’ advice.
During the development of the war, Liu Bang fully listened to his men and cleverly arranged the attack route, which was met with less military resistance, and preempted Xianyang, capturing Prince Ying of Qin and destroying the Qin dynasty. However, Liu Bang knew that he could not confront Xiang Yu with his own strength for a while, so he withdrew his army from Xianyang first, waiting for an opportunity to achieve great things later.
Xiang Yu’s marching route was not very well arranged, so he always met with the Qin army head-on and came late after all the trouble. Therefore, he was extremely dissatisfied with Liu Bang and took out his anger by doing something wrong. Xiang Yu led a large group of people everywhere to kill, and set fire to the Qin palace, the fire burned for several months, turning a magnificent palace into a scorched earth and rubble. Even so, he did not feel enough relief, and looted all the jewels and jade left behind by the Qin Dynasty, and then prepared to lead his men back to Jiangdong.
At that time, Xiang Yu’s learned men advised, “Xianyang is a fortress in Guanzhong, the land is fertile, rich in products, and the terrain is dangerous, why don’t you build your capital here, so that you can establish your hegemony.” Xiang Yu listened to a bit moved, but a look at the Xianyang has been made in front of their own dilapidated, there is no capital of the look! So, he missed his hometown even more, so he only wanted to go back to his hometown. He said to the man who advised him, “If you are rich, you should go back to your hometown, so that your folks can know what you are like now. If you don’t go back to your hometown when you are rich, it’s like walking in the dark in beautiful embroidered clothes, but no one can see you even if your clothes are good. So I still have to go back to Jiangdong.”
When that man heard this, he thought that Xiang Yu was really not a great hero who could stand on top of the sky, so he said to others privately, “People say that the Chu people have the ears of a monkey, and it is true.” I didn’t believe it before, but after talking with the king of Chu, I knew it was true. The words soon reached Xiang Yu’s ears. Xiang Yu was so angry that he immediately sent his men to arrest the man and cooked him alive in a pot.
Later on, people simplified the sarcastic words of Xiang Yu as “A monkeydressed up as a human”.
Similar Idioms:
- 虚有其表
- 华而不实
