Calling a Deer a Horse

In an attempt to seize power over the government, Zhao Gao devised a loyalty test for court officials. He presented a deer in the court, calling it a horse.

Some officials remained silent, some claimed that it was indeed a horse, some disagreed, saying it was a deer. Zhao Gao had secretly arranged for those who disagreed to be executed, serving as a display of power designed to strike fear into the other officials.

From this event, the Chinese idiom, “calling a deer a horse” (指鹿为马), to mean “deliberately pedalling falsehoods” is derived