Literal Meaning: Lord Ye loves dragons
Metaphorical Meaning: Professed love of what one really fears

In the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC, there lived in the State of Chu a person named Ye Zhuliang, who addressed himself as “Lord Ye”. It’s said that this Lord Ye was very fond of dragons. The walls had dragons painted on them. The beams, pillars, doors and the windows were all carved with them. As a result, his love for dragons was spread out. When the real dragon in heaven heard of this, he was deeply moved and decided to visit Lord Ye to thank him. You might think Lord Ye was very happy to see a real dragon. But, actually, at the very sight of this creature, he was scared out of his wits and ran away as fast as he could. From then on, people knew that Lord Ye only loved pictures or carvings which look like dragons, not the real one.