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瞎子摸象

Mandarin · pinyin xiā zi 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

瞎: xiā · blind, reckless; rash
子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
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

1–5–1–4 · xia1 zi5 mo1 xiang4

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hat6 zi2 mo2 zoeng6

Cantonese word readings for 瞎子摸象. 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

(idiomatic) synonym of 盲人摸象 (mángrénmōxiàng)

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

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