內行看門道,外行看熱鬧

简 内行看门道,外行看热闹 · 繁 內行看門道,外行看熱鬧
Mandarin · pinyin nèi háng kàn mén dao , wài háng kàn rè nao

Meanings

  1. while the connoisseur recognizes the artistry, the layman simply enjoys the show
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Characters in this entry

內
nèi · inside, interior; domestic
行
xíng · go; walk; move, travel; circulate; Kangxi radical 144
看
kàn · look, see; examine, scrutinize
門
mén · gate, door, entrance, opening; Kangxi radical 169
道
dào · path, road, street; method, way
外
wài · out, outside, external; foreign
熱
rè · hot; heat; fever; restless; zeal
鬧
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内
nèi · inside
门
mén · gate, door, entrance, opening
热
rè · hot; heat; fever; restless; zeal
闹
nào · quarrel; dispute hotly
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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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.

內行看門道,外行看熱鬧 · find source passages ↗ · 内行看门道,外行看热闹 · find source passages ↗

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內行看門道,外行看熱鬧 · nei4 hang2 kan4 men2 dao5 , wai4 hang2 kan4 re4 nao5
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 11,235
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record內行看門道,外行看熱鬧 内行看门道,外行看热闹 [nei4 hang2 kan4 men2 dao5 , wai4 hang2 kan4 re4 nao5] /while the connoisseur recognizes the artistry, the layman simply enjoys the show/