以讹传讹 (Yǐ é chuán é)

Basic Info

• Chinese Idiom: 以讹传讹 (Yǐ é chuán é)
• Pinyin: yǐ é chuán é
• Literal meaning: “To transmit an error as an error” / “To pass a mistake along as a mistake.”
  (以 = to use / by means of; 讹 = error / falsehood; 传 = to transmit / pass on; 讹 = error again)

Figurative Definition

It describes the process by which an already incorrect statement or story is spread from person to person, becoming more distorted and further from the truth with each retelling. It criticizes the careless transmission of false information – where no one checks the original source, and each repetition adds new errors.

In short: passing on errors until they become even bigger errors.

Cultural & Historical Origin

This idiom comes from the Southern Song Dynasty scholar Zhang Yan (张炎), in his work Ciyuan · Yinpu (《词源·音谱》 – “The Source of Ci Poetry: On Tonal Patterns”).

The original passage says:

述词之人，若只依旧本之不可歌者，一字填一字，而不知以讹传讹，徒费思索。

Those who compose ci poetry, if they merely follow old texts that can no longer be sung, filling in word by word, and do not realize that they are passing errors along as errors, will only waste their thinking.

Zhang Yan was criticizing poets who blindly copied flawed old manuscripts without questioning them, thereby perpetuating and spreading mistakes in musical notation and lyrics.

From this specific context in literary criticism, the phrase “以讹传讹” broadened into a general warning about the spread of misinformation in any field.

Key Lesson

Verify before you repeat. Errors multiply when people pass them on without checking. Whether it is a rumor, a historical “fact,” a piece of advice, or a social media post, the chain of transmission is where truth gets lost. A responsible person stops the chain by asking: “Where did this actually come from? Is it true?”

Cultural Note

In modern Chinese, “以讹传讹” is widely used to criticize:

• Fake news and viral misinformation on social media.
• Gossip that grows more exaggerated with each retelling.
• Academic errors that get cited repeatedly without verification.
• Urban legends and folk “facts” that have no original source.

It is closely related to “道听途说” (dào tīng tú shuō – hearsay) and “捕风捉影” (bǔ fēng zhuō yǐng – grasping at shadows). However, “以讹传讹” specifically emphasizes the process of transmission – the error is not just believed, it is passed on and amplified.

Similar English Expressions

• To spread misinformation – To pass on false information.
• A game of telephone / Chinese whispers – Information becoming distorted as it is passed along.
• To perpetuate a myth – To keep a false belief alive by repeating it.
• Errors compounded – Mistakes multiplying through repetition.
• To pass on hearsay – Repeating unverified information.
• To snowball – To grow larger and worse as it rolls along (often used of rumors).
• To add fuel to the fire – To make a situation worse (different nuance).
• To repeat a lie until it becomes truth – The propaganda version of the same idea.

The closest and most vivid English equivalent is “a game of telephone” (American) or “Chinese whispers” (British) – where a message becomes distorted as it passes from person to person.