三人成虎

戰國時期，中原各國間的戰事、合盟不斷。魏國與趙國正準備簽訂一份聯盟協議。按照當時的慣例，魏王必須把太子送到趙國作為人質。 魏國大臣龐蔥，將要陪魏太子到趙國去作人質。

龐蔥臨行前對魏王說：“如果有人說街市上出現了老虎，大王會相信嗎？”
魏王道：“我不相信。”
龐蔥說：“如果有第二個人說街市上出現了老虎，大王可相信嗎？”
魏王道：“這樣的話，我有些將信將疑了。”
龐蔥又說：“如果有第三個人說街市上出現了老虎，大王相信嗎？”
魏王道：“我當然會相信。”
龐蔥就說：“街市上不會有老虎，這是很明顯的事，可是經過三個人一說，好像真的有了老虎了。現在趙國離大王您的宮殿，比這里的街市遠了許多。我確信議論我的人又不止三個。希望大王明察才好。”
魏王道：“我知道了。我保證會相信你的。不要擔心。去吧。”

龐蔥陪太子離開后，果然他的仇敵一個個都在魏王面前說他的壞話。起先，魏王并不理睬他們。但過了一陣子，他聽了很多關于龐聰讒言后，他開始懷疑他了。當太子和龐聰終于被釋，回國
后，魏王根本就不再召見龐聰了。

三人成虎這個成語就是由這個故事而來的，它指出謠言就像老虎那樣可怕。

A repeated slander makes others believe

The Warring States Period (zhàn guó 戰國,475――221BC) witnessed a great deal of wars and alliances among small states in China. At that time,in order to pursue their common interests in such hash situation,the State of Wei (wèi guó 魏國) and the State of Zhao (zhào guó 趙國) attempted to sign a treaty of alliance. As was usual at the time,the king of Wei had to send his son to Zhao as a hostage. A minister,Pang Cong (páng cōng 龐聰),was to accompany him.

Just before their departure,Pang Cong posed a strange question to the king: "If someone told you that there was a tiger in the street,would you believe it?"
"No,I wouldn't," replied the king.
"If two people said that, would you believe it?" the minister asked further.
"In that case,I would think twice about it," answered the king.
The minister went on, "if three people all said there's a tiger in the street,would you believe it then?"
"Of course I would," was the answer.
Then Pang Cong said: "It is strange,isn't it, that even when it's obvious there's no tiger in the street, you would believe there is one just because three people say so. Now, we're going to live in the State of Zhao that is far further away from Your Majesty's palace than the street. I'm sure there'll be a lot of rumors about me when I've gone. So I hope Your Majesty will be perceptive."
Hearing this,the king said," I know that. You can rest assured that I have every trust in you. Don't worry. Off you go."

After Pang Cong left with the prince,sure enough,his enemies spoke ill of him in front of the king. One after another,they told their stories. At first, the king paid no attention to them. But after a while,when he had heard enough rumors about the minister,he began to suspect Pang Cong. When the prince and the minister were finally freed as hostages,they returned to the State of Wei. The king didn't even summon Pang Cong to the palace!

From that story comes the idiom San Ren Cheng Hu. The idiom also suggests that gossip can be as ferocious as a tiger.

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