Jokes about horse meat

This proverb comes from Yanzi Chunqiu. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Qi Gongling liked ladies-in-waiting to wear men's clothes. As soon as this wind opened, women in Qi followed suit, regardless of gender, making many jokes. Worried that this would affect the reputation of Qi, he asked all localities to ban women from dressing up as women. However, it encountered an embarrassing situation of "there are orders that can't be done, and there are prohibitions." Yan Zi advised, "Your Majesty advocates that women in the palace dress up as men. However, it is strictly prohibited throughout the country. It's like some butcher shops with cow heads hanging outside and horse meat inside. How can this be banned? If the palace is not allowed, how dare foreign women violate it! " As soon as Gong Ling heard this reason, he followed suit. In less than a month, the national atmosphere took on a new look. Later, some people put Yan Zi's "hanging the cow's head in the door and selling horse meat in the kitchen". It means "selling dog meat by hanging sheep's head."