Chinese idiom · 成语
此地无银
Meaning
No silver here; inadvertently revealing a secret.
Character by character
Origin and story
FolktaleThis is a shortened form of the folk saying 此地无银三百两. In the traditional joke, a person buries silver and puts up a notice announcing that there are no three hundred liang of silver here. The notice reveals exactly what it is supposed to hide. A neighbor digs up the money and adds another notice denying that he stole it, thereby exposing himself too.
Names and wording vary in retellings. The Ministry of Education records the story as a popular tradition, not a securely dated Ming event. The first sign belongs to the owner, not the thief. The idiom describes an unnecessary denial that makes the concealed truth more obvious.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
还没人问，你就急着说没动过文件，这不是此地无银吗？
No one even asked, yet you're rushing to say you didn't touch the files—isn't that giving yourself away?
Often used as a shortened allusion to a conspicuously revealing denial.