不識廬山真面目
简 不识庐山真面目 · 繁 不識廬山真面目Meanings
- lit. not to know the true face of Lushan Mountain (idiom)
- fig. can't see the forest for the trees
Characters in this entry
- 不
- bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
- 識
- Look up this written character
- 廬
- Look up this written character
- 山
- shān · mountain, hill, peak
- 真
- zhēn · real, actual, true, genuine
- 面
- miàn · face; surface; plane; side, dimension; Kangxi radical 176
- 目
- mù · eye; look, see; division, topic; Kangxi radical 109
- 识
- shí · shì · recognize, understand, know
- 庐
- lú · hut, cottage; name of a mountain
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
4–2–2–1–1–4–4 · bu4 shi2 Lu2 shan1 zhen1 mian4 mu4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
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.
不識廬山真面目 · find source passages ↗ · 不识庐山真面目 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
bat1 sik1 lou4 saan1 zan1 min6 muk6
Cantonese word readings for 不識廬山真面目. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
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 recognize the full picture or true nature of something because one only has a partial understanding of it
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack