Idiom Story — 朝三暮四

The Story

Once upon a time, there was an old man who raised monkeys (called a “jūgōng”, 狙公). He fed them acorns every day.

To save acorns, he told the monkeys:

“Starting tomorrow, you’ll get three acorns in the morning and four in the evening. How does that sound?”

The monkeys were upset when they heard they’d only get three in the morning and began chattering angrily.

The old man thought for a moment and quickly changed his words:

“Alright then, four in the morning and three in the evening.”

Hearing this, the monkeys were delighted and immediately calmed down. But in fact, it was still seven acorns a day—only the order had changed. The monkeys were tricked and didn’t even realize it.

Meaning & Origin

This story comes from the ancient Chinese text Zhuangzi (《庄子》) and was originally used to mock people who focus only on appearances rather than the essence of things.

Recap

  • Idiom: 朝三暮四
  • Pinyin: zhāo sān mù sì
  • Literal meaning: Three in the morning, four in the evening
  • Figurative meaning: Used to describe people who are fickle, play clever tricks, or deceive others by changing superficial details.

Takeaway

Look beyond surface changes and pay attention to the underlying substance—otherwise it’s easy to be misled by clever framing.

So if that were you — would you prefer “朝三暮四 (three in the morning, four in the evening)” or “早八晚六 (eight to six)”? KK.