不識廬山真面目

See also: 不识庐山真面目

Chinese

		to fail to see; not to know; not to appreciate	Mount Lu	true features; true identity; true colors
trad. (不識廬山真面目/不識廬山眞面目)		不識	廬山	真面目/眞面目
simp. (不识庐山真面目)		不识	庐山	真面目
Literally: “to be unable to recognize the true face of Mount Lu”.

Etymology

From the poem 題西林壁 by Song dynasty poet Su Shi in 1084.

不識廬山真面目，只緣身在此山中。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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不识庐山真面目，只缘身在此山中。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 1084, Su Shi, 題西林壁

Bùshí Lúshān zhēnmiànmù, zhǐ yuán shēn zài cǐ shān zhōng. [Pinyin]

I cannot make out the true face of Mount Lu
only because I am within this very mountain.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bùshí Lúshān zhēnmiànmù, bùshì Lúshān zhēnmiànmù

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˊ ㄌㄨˊ ㄕㄢ ㄓㄣ ㄇㄧㄢˋ ㄇㄨˋ, ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˋ ㄌㄨˊ ㄕㄢ ㄓㄣ ㄇㄧㄢˋ ㄇㄨˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ sik¹ lou⁴ saan¹ zan¹ min⁶ muk⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùshí Lúshān zhēnmiànmù
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˊ ㄌㄨˊ ㄕㄢ ㄓㄣ ㄇㄧㄢˋ ㄇㄨˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùshíh Lúshan jhenmiànmù
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-shih² Lu²-shan¹ chên¹-mien⁴-mu⁴
    • Yale: bù-shŕ Lú-shān jēn-myàn-mù
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bushyr Lushan jenmiannmuh
    • Palladius: буши Лушань чжэньмяньму (buši Lušanʹ čžɛnʹmjanʹmu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹ ʂʐ̩³⁵ lu³⁵ ʂän⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂən⁵⁵ mi̯ɛn⁵¹⁻⁵³ mu⁵¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùshì Lúshān zhēnmiànmù [Phonetic: búshì Lúshān zhēnmiànmù]
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˋ ㄌㄨˊ ㄕㄢ ㄓㄣ ㄇㄧㄢˋ ㄇㄨˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùshìh Lúshan jhenmiànmù
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-shih⁴ Lu²-shan¹ chên¹-mien⁴-mu⁴
    • Yale: bù-shr̀ Lú-shān jēn-myàn-mù
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bushyh Lushan jenmiannmuh
    • Palladius: буши Лушань чжэньмяньму (buši Lušanʹ čžɛnʹmjanʹmu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ ʂʐ̩⁵¹ lu³⁵ ʂän⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂən⁵⁵ mi̯ɛn⁵¹⁻⁵³ mu⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ sik¹ lou⁴ saan¹ zan¹ min⁶ muk⁶
    • Yale: bāt sīk lòuh sāan jān mihn muhk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ sik⁷ lou⁴ saan¹ dzan¹ min⁶ muk⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ xig¹ lou⁴ san¹ zen¹ min⁶ mug⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ sɪk̚⁵ lou̯²¹ saːn⁵⁵ t͡sɐn⁵⁵ miːn²² mʊk̚²/

Idiom

不識廬山真面目

1. to not recognize the full picture or true nature of something because one only has a partial understanding of it

Related terms

• 廬山真面目／庐山真面目 (lúshān zhēnmiànmù)
• 當局者迷，旁觀者清／当局者迷，旁观者清 (dāngjúzhě mí, pángguānzhě qīng)