醉翁之意不在酒 The drunkard’s intention is not in the wine
Explanation
这句成语出自欧阳修的《醉翁亭记》。原意是指作者在醉翁亭饮酒，但其乐趣不在于酒本身，而在于欣赏醉翁亭周围优美的山水景色。后人常用它来比喻人的真实意图不在表面现象上，而在于别的事情。
This idiom comes from Ouyang Xiu's "Record of the Drunkard Pavilion." It originally meant that the author drank in the Drunkard Pavilion, but his pleasure was not in the wine itself, but in appreciating the beautiful scenery around the Drunkard Pavilion. Later, it is often used to refer to a person's real intention is not on the surface phenomenon, but on other things.
Origin Story
北宋时期，欧阳修被贬官到滁州做太守。滁州西南的琅琊山风景优美，欧阳修经常和朋友们去那里游玩，并在山间建了一座亭子，取名为醉翁亭。欧阳修写了一篇著名的散文《醉翁亭记》，里面有一句名言：“醉翁之意不在酒，在乎山水之间也”。这句话的意思是：我到醉翁亭喝酒，真正的乐趣不在于喝酒，而在于欣赏美丽的山水景色。后来，这句话被人们用来比喻真实意图不在表面现象，而在其他方面。
During the Northern Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu was demoted to Chuzhou as a prefect. The Langya Mountain in the southwest of Chuzhou is beautiful, and Ouyang Xiu often went there with his friends, and built a pavilion in the mountains, which was named Drunkard Pavilion. Ouyang Xiu wrote a famous essay "Record of the Drunkard Pavilion", which contains a famous saying: "The drunkard's intention is not in the wine, but in the mountains and rivers." This means that his real pleasure is not in drinking wine, but in admiring the beautiful scenery. Later, this sentence was used to describe the true intention that is not on the surface, but elsewhere.
Usage
用作比喻，形容表面上做一件事，而真实意图另有所指。
Used as a metaphor to describe that one superficially does something, while the true intention lies elsewhere.
Examples
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他表面上答应了，但醉翁之意不在酒，实际另有打算。
ta biaomianshang dayingle le, dan zui weng zhi yi bu zai jiu, shiji shang ling you dasuan.
He ostensibly agreed, but his real intention lies elsewhere.
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他做这件事的醉翁之意不在酒，恐怕另有图谋
ta zuo zhe jian shi de zui weng zhi yi bu zai jiu, kong pa ling you tumou
His true intention is not what he pretends to do; there is something else behind it