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盲人摸象

Mandarin · pinyin máng rén mō xiàng

blind people touch an elephant (idiom, from Nirvana sutra 大般涅槃經 dà bān Niè pán jīng); fig. unable to see the big picture
to mistake the part for the whole
unable to see the wood for the trees

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Characters in this entry

盲: máng · blind; unperceptive, shortsighted
人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
摸: mō · gently touch with hand; caress
象: xiàng · elephant; ivory; figure, image

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–1–4 · mang2 ren2 mo1 xiang4

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

maang4 jan4 mo2 zoeng6

Cantonese word readings for 盲人摸象. 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

(figurative) to draw (incorrect) conclusions from partial understanding

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

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