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不明就裡

简不明就里 · 繁不明就裡

Mandarin · pinyin bù míng jiù lǐ

not to understand the situation
unaware of the ins and outs

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
明: míng · bright, light, brilliant; clear
就: jiù · just, simply; to come, go to; to approach, near
裡: Look up this written character
里: lǐ · unit of distance; village; lane; Kangxi radical 166

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–4–3 · bu4 ming2 jiu4 li3

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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.

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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) to not know the inside story; to be unfamiliar with the details of the situation

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

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