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知人知面不知心

Mandarin · pinyin zhī rén zhī miàn bù zhī xīn

one may know a person for a long time without understanding his true nature (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

知: zhī · know, perceive, comprehend
人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
面: miàn · face; surface; plane; side, dimension; Kangxi radical 176
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
心: xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)

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Mandarin tones

1–2–1–4–4–1–1 · zhi1 ren2 zhi1 mian4 bu4 zhi1 xin1

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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

zi1 jan4 zi1 min6 bat1 zi1 sam1

Cantonese word readings for 知人知面不知心. 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.

proverb

one may know a person from the outside but may not understand their true nature

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

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