上下其手

shàngxiàqíshǒu
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 to conspire to deceive
  2. 2 to rig the outcome through collusion
  3. 3 to play tricks

Examples

Tāmen shàngxiàqíshǒu, cāozòng le zhè cì zhāobiāo.
They colluded to rig this bidding process.
Yǒu rén zài zhàngmù shàng shàngxiàqíshǒu.
Someone was fiddling with the books.

Tips

history
From 《左传·二十六》: during a captive dispute, Bo Zhouli raised his hand when pointing to Prince Wei and lowered it for the other man, signalling the witness to lie. The gesture became shorthand for conspiring to distort the truth.
usage
Always negative. Typically used for officials, referees, or insiders who manipulate results behind the scenes.

Stroke Order

shàng
xià
shǒu