📖 Meaning
Refers to the leaking of military secrets. The idiom derives from a historical incident in which confidential military information was divulged to outsiders, compromising a campaign or strategy.
📜 Origin Story
From the Chronicle of Zuo (Zuo Zhuan), in the second year of Duke Xi (658 BC), it records that a Qi state eunuch named Diao first leaked military information at a place called Duoyu. The Jin dynasty scholar Du Yu annotated that Duoyu was a place name, and noted that the eunuch Diao began abusing his favored position there, leaking Duke Huan of Qi's military plans. This treachery laid the groundwork for Qi's later internal turmoil. The phrase thus came to denote the disclosure of military secrets.
💡 Example Usage
此战之败，实因多鱼之漏，军机早已外泄。
The defeat in this battle was truly due to a leak of military secrets; the plans had long been exposed.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 多鱼之漏
- Pinyin: duō yú zhī lòu
- Literal Translation: many, fish, of, leak
- Category: Communication
- Characters: 4