Why pretend to be garlic instead of onion or ginger?

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Source | China Net Culture Channel

When we say that a person doesn't pretend to understand and doesn't put on airs, we often use a word? "Pretending to be garlic", then why is it "pretending to be garlic" instead of "pretending to be onion" or something else?

The fortune teller said

In ancient times, when people encountered problems or were confused, they often asked fortune tellers for divination. And a qualified fortune teller, who wants to reach the realm of "knowing astronomy above and geography below" and "knowing how to pinch and calculate", often needs to study Zhouyi, remember some formulas and know numerology knowledge.

However, some people who don't pretend to understand sometimes make gestures such as shaking their heads, mumbling, and poking their left thumb in their palms, pretending to be unfathomable, but it turns out to be wrong.

These people who pretend to know how to pinch and calculate are called "pretending to know how to calculate." Pretending to calculate is different from pretending to be stupid. People often call people who don't know how to pretend to be stupid.

Narcissus theory

"Pretending to be garlic" is sometimes associated with narcissus. For example, a two-part allegorical saying: "Narcissus doesn't bloom, but pretends to be garlic".

Narcissus is a southern flower that looks like garlic when it is not blooming.

Narcissus farmers plant bulbs of daffodils in the ground every year 10, and then dig them out in the shade in May and June of the following year. After two or three years of continuous planting, the bulbs grow up and have flower buds inside, and then they can bloom after blisters.

However, narcissus has strict requirements on temperature, and naturally does not germinate when the temperature is too low; When the temperature is too high, daffodils only grow leaves and do not bloom. When the leaves wither, there are bulbs as big as garlic on the roots, and the flower growers are busy in vain.

This leads to the two-part allegorical saying that "daffodils don't bloom and pretend to be garlic".

The emperor said

According to legend, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty visited a place in the south one spring, and when he saw a piece of green garlic in the field, he easily praised it.

I went to visit again the next winter, but unfortunately the green garlic hasn't grown yet this season. In order to please the emperor, local officials sent people to transplant many daffodils together. From a distance, their leaves look like green garlic. After Gan Long saw it, he was full of praise and became an official.

Since then, people have ridiculed fraud or ignorance as "pretending".

The next one is even more exciting.

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