Chinese idiom · 成语
朝秦暮楚
Meaning
Morning Qin, evening Chu; to be fickle or disloyal.
Character by character
Origin and story
Literary expressionChao Buzhi’s Song-dynasty Hailing Ji Xu (海陵集序) criticizes Warring States persuaders who sought advantage by attaching themselves to Qin in the morning and Chu in the evening. It is a later literary judgment on opportunistic allegiance, not a schedule of a particular envoy’s daily journey.
In another work, Bei Zhu Ting Fu (北渚亭賦), Chao uses similar wording for the unsettled life of traveling officials. The phrase therefore has two related traditions: changing loyalties and moving restlessly from place to place. Modern everyday usage usually carries the critical first sense, especially when someone switches sides for advantage.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
合作不能朝秦暮楚，哪边条件好就立刻倒向哪边。
A partnership cannot depend on switching sides whenever someone offers better terms.
Usually criticizes changing allegiance, more specifically than changing one’s mind about a minor choice.