朝令夕改

zhāolìng-xīgǎi
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 orders given in the morning are changed by evening
  2. 2 to make frequent, unpredictable changes in policy

Examples

HSK 5
Guǎnlǐzhě zhāolìngxīgǎi, yuángōng hěn nán zhíxíng.
When managers keep flipping their orders, staff find them impossible to carry out.
HSK 7-9
Zhèngcè zhāolìngxīgǎi, ràng qǐyè wúsuǒshìcóng.
Policy changes morning and night leave businesses with no idea what to follow.

Tips

history
《汉书·食货志》 (drawing on Chao Cuo's memorial to the Han throne): 赋敛不时,朝令而暮改 - "taxes are collected at odd times; decrees issued in the morning are changed by evening". A 2,000-year-old complaint about unstable government.
mistakes
here reads zhāo ("morning"), not cháo ("court; dynasty"). Parallel to (xī, "evening"), morning/evening, not court/evening.

Stroke Order

cháo
lìng
gǎi