Take the purple as the Pearl

Take the purple as the Pearl

Ziweizhu, a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is y ǐ Z ǐ w é izh ū, which means to refer to a villain as a sage with integrity and justice. It comes from official admonitions by Liu Ji of Ming Dynasty.

Idiom explanation

It is a metaphor to regard villains as honest and just sages. It is the same as "using purple to confuse red".

The origin of Idioms

In the official admonition of Ming Dynasty, Liu Ji said, "to be good at doing evil, to take purple as the Pearl."

Idiom usage

Used as a predicate or attributive; used of a villain.

Analysis of Idioms

Synonym: to confuse purple with ink