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A group that takes a deer and calls it a horse

Posted December. 23, 2014 07:30,   

한국어

After Qin Shi Huang, the emperor of Qin Dynasty (220-210 B.C.), died, one of his men, Zhao Gao, killed the emperor’s first son and made the emperor`s second son a puppet king. He eliminated senior retainers with cunning tricks and held real power in the top position. One day, he took a deer and said, “It’s a horse.” The king said, “Why do you call a deer a horse?” Zhao Gao insisted it is a horse.

When the king asked his retainers, “What do you think? Is it a horse or a deer?” Being afraid of Zhao Gao, they said, “It’s a horse.” A few of them said, “It’s a deer” but Zhao Gao killed them later. Since then, nobody opposed what Zhao Gao said. The king doubted his judgment and did not get engaged in political affairs, Sima Qian, a famous Chinese historian, wrote in Records of the Grand Historian.

The Korean Professors’ Newspaper surveyed 724 professors and selected this year’s four-letter Chinese idiom: Jirokwima (指鹿爲馬), which means "taking a deer and calling it a horse." The idiom is interpreted as ridiculing one’s elder in the Records of the Grand Historian, but it also means calling black white and glossing over facts. It sounds like a criticism of those in power who gloss over facts and make up stories. It seems to ridicule how those in power responded to the leaked documents on Chung Yoon-hoi, a former advisor to the president, from the presidential office. There are many rumors around the president’s confidants. Maybe, some of the might take a deer and call it a horse to the president.

Last year, the newspaper chose Dohaengyeoksi (倒行逆施), which means working against the flow. It pointed to the repeated failures of policies and appointments contrary to the public’s expectations since the launch of the new administration. The two Chinese idioms imply the disappointment over the failure of showing a new leadership of Korea’s first female president. The professors cannot be blamed for scoring the administration so low. The presidential office might have to think over why they gave poor scores for two years in a row.