- 薰莸不同器 xūnyóubùtóngqì good and bad people do not mixLiterally "fragrant herbs and foul herbs are not stored in the same vessel"; an idiom meaning that good and bad people cannot coexist or should be kept apart.
- 薰莸同器 xūnyóutóngqì good and evil coexistgood coexists with evil; used as a metaphor for the blurring of distinctions between the good and the bad
- 薰莸异器 xūnyóuyìqì good and bad cannot coexistLiterally "fragrant herbs and stinking weeds must be kept in different containers," meaning that good people and bad people cannot live together or be treated as the same.