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坐井觀天

简坐井观天 · 繁坐井觀天

Mandarin · pinyin zuò jǐng guān tiān

lit. to view the sky from the bottom of a well (idiom); ignorant and narrow-minded

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Characters in this entry

坐: zuò · sit; seat; ride, travel by
井: jǐng · well, mine shaft, pit; surname; 22nd lunar mansion, determinative star μ Geminorum (Tejat); hexagram ䷯
觀: Look up this written character
天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
观: guān · see, observe, view; appearance

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–1–1 · zuo4 jing3 guan1 tian1

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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.

坐井觀天 · find source passages ↗ · 坐井观天 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zo6 zeng2 gun1 tin1

Cantonese word readings for 坐井觀天. 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) ignorant of the world; to be living under a rock

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

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