呼朋引类

呼朋引類

hūpéngyǐnlèi

idiom

Meanings

1 to gather one's like-minded crowd
2 to call together one's clique
3 (often pejorative) to rope in fellow travelers

Characters

to attract, draw in

Examples

他一到学校就呼朋引类，组织小团体。

Tā yī dào xuéxiào jiù hūpéngyǐnlèi, zǔzhī xiǎo tuántǐ.

As soon as he arrived at the school he gathered his crowd and formed a clique.

网上的极端分子常常呼朋引类，互相煽动。

Wǎngshàng de jíduān fènzǐ chángcháng hūpéngyǐnlèi, hùxiāng shāndòng.

Online extremists often round up like-minded people and stir each other up.

Tips

history

From Ouyang Xiu's (欧阳修) Song-dynasty 《憎苍蝇赋》 ('Hating Flies'): 奈何引类呼朋，摇头鼓翼 — describing flies summoning their kind. The pest-swarm imagery explains the negative tone.

usage

Almost always pejorative — implies clannish, narrow-minded, or rabble-rousing behavior. For a neutral 'gather friends' use 招朋唤友.

Stroke Order

呼 hū

朋 péng

引 yǐn

类 lèi