Chinese idiom · 成语
滥竽充数
Meaning
To pass off as qualified despite lacking skill; to make up numbers.
Character by character
Origin and story
FableHan Feizi (韓非子), in Nei Chu Shuo Shang (內儲說上), tells of King Xuan of Qi, who has three hundred musicians play the yu, a wind instrument, together. A man known as Nanguo asks to join them and receives provisions with the other performers. His lack of ability goes undetected within the large ensemble.
When King Xuan dies, King Min succeeds him and prefers hearing the musicians one at a time. Nanguo flees. The short source does not describe him giving a disastrous solo or being publicly caught. Its point is that individual ability can remain hidden when people are assessed only as a group. The idiom criticizes unqualified people passing among the capable, or inferior items included merely to fill out a collection; it can also be used modestly about oneself.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
这份作品集宁可少放几张，也不要拿没完成的设计来滥竽充数。
It’s better to include fewer pieces in this portfolio than to pad it with unfinished designs.
Here it refers to substandard work added to make up the numbers, rather than an unqualified person.