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一葉障目

简一叶障目 · 繁一葉障目

Mandarin · pinyin yī yè zhàng mù

lit. eyes obscured by a single leaf (idiom)
fig. not seeing the wider picture
can't see the wood for the trees

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
葉: yè · leaf, petal; page of book; period
障: zhàng · separate; shield; barricade
目: mù · eye; look, see; division, topic; Kangxi radical 109
叶: yè · to harmonize, to rhyme; to unite; (borrowed for) leaf

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–4–4–4 · yi1 ye4 zhang4 mu4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

一葉障目 · find source passages ↗ · 一叶障目 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jat1 jip6 zoeng3 muk6

Cantonese word readings for 一葉障目. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) blinded by only looking at one thing and not considering others; confused by partial or superficial things

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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