lit. Ying writes a letter and Yan reads it; fig. to misinterpret the original meaning; to pile up errors; refers to the letter from capital 郢[Ying3] of 楚[Chu3] in which the inadvertent words "hold up the candle" are mistaken by the minister of 燕[Yan1] as "promote the wise"
trad. 郢書燕說
Also written 郢書燕說【Yǐng shū Yān shuō】