无风起浪

Origin and story

The image imagines waves being stirred up even though no wind is blowing. A related reversed wording appears in the Chan collection Wudeng Huiyuan as a master's enigmatic answer, while the exact familiar form is clearly used for troublemaking in Yang Rousheng's Ming play Yuhuan Ji, scene 15. A speaker warns against believing Fu Tong'er's words because he habitually manufactures disturbances. The theatrical context makes the social meaning plain: someone creates conflict where none was necessary. This is different from the longer saying wu feng bu qi lang, which asserts that events have causes; omitting bu changes the point entirely.