假作真时真亦假

假作真時真亦假

jiǎzuòzhēnshízhēnyìjiǎ

phrase

Meanings

1 when falsehood is taken for truth, truth itself becomes falsehood
2 once lies pass as fact, even the real looks fake

Characters

taken as, treated as

also, likewise (classical)

Examples

网络谣言满天飞，真是假作真时真亦假。

Wǎngluò yáoyán mǎn tiān fēi, zhēn shì jiǎ zuò zhēn shí zhēn yì jiǎ.

With rumors flying across the internet, truly ‘when the fake passes as real, the real too becomes fake.’

这幅画的仿品太多，假作真时真亦假。

Zhè fú huà de fǎngpǐn tài duō, jiǎ zuò zhēn shí zhēn yì jiǎ.

There are so many imitations of this painting that ‘when the fake becomes real, the real seems fake.’

Tips

history

From Cao Xueqin 曹雪芹's 《红楼梦》 (Qing), the couplet over the gate of the Land of Illusion 太虚幻境: ‘假作真时真亦假，无为有处有还无。’ (When falsehood is taken for truth, truth becomes falsehood; where nothing is treated as something, something becomes nothing.) A philosophical motif that runs through the entire novel.

usage

亦 (yì) = also / likewise, classical equivalent of 也. Almost always paired with 无为有处有还无.

Stroke Order

假 jià

作 zuò

真 zhēn

时 shí

亦 yì