The link between deers, deliberate deception and fools in Japan.
Horsedragonfish 鹿 lù deer has an interesting infographic about this hanzi. See below.
指鹿为马 zhǐ lù wéi mǎ making a deer out to be a horse. A Chinese idiom about deception. Connected to the Japanese insult baka "fool; idiot" is usually written 馬鹿 (lit. "horse deer"). Archaic Kanji phonetic kanji transcriptions of baka include 莫迦 and 破家. Etymology from Chinese idiom zhǐ lù wéi 指鹿為馬 lit. "point at a deer and call it a horse"
From Baka 馬鹿 Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia.
I should have know this from my studies in Japanese. Baka was one of the first insults I learned in Japan. However, I don't think anyone could explain it to me. My Japanese home stay is responsible as I used to watch Crayon Shin Chan クレヨンしんちゃん, Kureyon Shin-chan (anime) with the youngest son in the family.
So the 'penny has dropped', 'the pieces have fallen into place' and 'onward and upward' for learning more hanzi.
More here about the story of the idiom.
Point at a Deer and Call it a Horse
Proverbs and Sayings
