只许州官放火,不许百姓点灯

只许州官放火,不许百姓点灯的英文翻译

基本释义

• It's recorded in ancient literature that once an official named Tian Deng required people to call lamps or lanterns "fire" because lamp and lantern (灯) have the same pronunciation with his given name (登) in Chinese. At the Lantern Festival, he published a bulletin, saying that "本州依例放火三日" (there will be fire display for three days in this prefecture). Then "只许州官放火, 不许百姓点灯" became used to express that someone may do as one wants but shouldn't allow others to do something normal and reasonable.