📖 Meaning
If someone is not genuinely foolish, then they must be deliberately slandering or deceiving. The phrase presents a dichotomy: statements so contrary to fact can only stem from either ignorance or intentional falsehood.
📜 Origin Story
From the Zhuangzi (庄子), chapter 'Autumn Floods' (秋水), written by the Daoist philosopher Zhuang Zhou during the Warring States period. The passage critiques those who insist on teaching only order without disorder, only right without wrong, failing to understand the natural duality of yin and yang, heaven and earth. Zhuangzi argues that such one-sided thinking ignores the fundamental principles governing all things, and anyone who persists in such views without ceasing must be either foolish or deliberately deceptive.
💡 Example Usage
他明明知道事实，却说出这样的话，非愚则诬。
He clearly knows the truth, yet he says such things—he must be either a fool or a liar.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 非愚则诬
- Pinyin: fēi yú zé wū
- Literal Translation: not, foolish, then, slander
- Category: Logic
- Characters: 4