鱼目混珠

Pronunciation: yú mù hùn zhū
Literal meaning: Fish eyes as pearls

Origin & Usage

This deceptive idiom describes passing off fish eyes (鱼目) as pearls (珠) through deliberate mixing (混), originating from Han Dynasty market regulations. Historical records mention how unscrupulous merchants would polish fish eyeballs to resemble valuable pearls, taking advantage of superficial similarities to deceive inexperienced buyers. The practice became so common that specific penalties were established for this fraud. During the Tang Dynasty, the phrase expanded beyond literal marketplace deception to describe any attempt to pass off inferior items as premium goods. Modern usage encompasses all forms of fraudulent misrepresentation, particularly situations where exploitation of superficial similarities enables deception about fundamental value.

Examples

English: "The seller tried to deceive customers by selling fake antiques as genuine artifacts"

Chinese: 卖家试图通过将假古董当作真品出售来欺骗顾客

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