Information that is heard and spread [while traveling] on the road
Hearsay, gossip, rumors; information that does not have factual basis
Neutral
他们听到的汇报大多都是道听途说 | Tāmen tīng dào de huìbào dàduō dōu shì dàotīngtúshuō
The majority of the reports they receive are nothing but rumors
[Source]
被告辩护律师驳斥该证据为道听途说 | Bèigào biànhù lǜshī bóchì gāi zhèngjù wéi dàotīngtúshuō
The defendant's attorney refuted the evidence as mere hearsay
[Source]
None
None
The 汉语大词典 dictionary indicates that 道听涂说 (same pinyin) is a variation of this chengyu, but the 多功能词典 dictionary includes a footnote saying that 道听涂说 is incorrect "spelling"
There are several versions of the conversation between 艾子 and 毛空. The translated story below is a combined and abridged version of these stories
In the story, the length of the meat is given in 丈 (zhàng). One 丈 is roughly 10.8 feet (3.3 meters)
Some sources indicate that this story took place during the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋时期 | chūn qiú shí qī | 770 - 476 BC)
《论语》(Lún Yǔ), or the Analects of Confucius
In antiquity, there lived two neighbors named 艾子 (Ài Zǐ) and 毛空 (Máo Kong). 毛空 was a rather lazy sort, and he also loved to gossip.
One day, 毛空 heard an interesting story about a duck and a piece of meat, and so he went to tell 艾子 about it.
"There's a man," he said, "that has a duck that can lay a hundred eggs in a single day." 艾子 laughed dubiously, and 毛空 amended his story: "Well, perhaps it was two ducks." 艾子 still didn't believe him, and 毛空 kept revising his story until the hundred eggs had been produced by ten ducks.
Later, 毛空 told 艾子 that there was a piece of meat that fell from the sky that was almost 300 feet (90 meters) long and 100 feet (30 meters) wide.
"Really?" said 艾子.
"Well, maybe it was about 200 feet (60 meters)," said 毛空.
艾子 still didn't believe him, and he asked, "Who was the farmer who bred that duck? And where did the meat fall from the sky?"
毛空 was unable to answer, and he eventually admitted that he'd heard the stories on the road