Chinese Idiom：偷天换日 (tōu tiān huàn rì)

This idiom originated from Revealing Original State of Officialdom (guān chǎng xiàn xíng jì 官场现形记), a book written by a noted novelist Li Baojia (lǐ bǎo jiā 李宝嘉) in the late stage of the Qing dynasty (qīng cháo 清朝,1636—1912AD), in which he vividly depicted a whole realistic picture of the official circles, revealing the darkness of the society at that time--the fierce infightings among the officials, the wrong doings they conducted on behalf of their own interests and so on.

One role mentioned in this critical fiction was Yin Zichong (yǐn zǐ chóng 尹子崇), a notorious merchant, who always dedicated himself in playing dirt tricks to pursue his own profits but without being looked through by others. Therefore, Li Baojia wrote in one chapter that: “Yin Zichong played a trick by stealing the sky and putting up a sham sun”, describing how sophisticated his trick was.

Since then, the idiom “ played a trick by stealing the sky and putting up a sham sun” was used to refer to some considerably smart tactics that fool all the people.

这则成语来自于《官场现形记》，它是由晚清小说家李宝嘉写的一本小说。

作品以官场为对象，着重展现了了官场的各种斗争，揭露了统治集团的腐朽无能。尹子崇是小说中涉及到的一个人物，他是一个生意人，喜欢采取各种骗术为自己夺得利益。“偷天换日”就是用来形容他骗术的高明。

偷天换日 (tōu tiān huàn rì)

【翻译】play a sly trick by stealing the sky and putting up a sham sun.

【释义】比喻暗中改变事物的真相，以达到蒙混欺骗的目的。

【例句】这个人经常以偷天换日的手法来把别人的贵重物品拿走，今天终于被识破了！

【近义词】偷天换日、移花接木、弄虚作假

【反义词】忠诚老实、正大光明、光明磊落