秀才不出門，全知天下事

Chinese

		licentiate	not; no	to go out; outside		all; whole; entire all; whole; entire; every; complete	to know; to be aware	under heaven; the world; everything under the sky under heaven; the world; everything under the sky; all under heaven	matter; thing; item matter; thing; item; work; affair
trad. (秀才不出門，全知天下事)		秀才	不	出門	，	全	知	天下	事
simp. (秀才不出门，全知天下事)		秀才	不	出门	，	全	知	天下	事

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiùcái bù chūmén, quán zhī tiānxià shì

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄡˋ ㄘㄞˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔㄨ ㄇㄣˊ , ㄑㄩㄢˊ ㄓ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄕˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sau³ coi⁴ bat¹ ceot¹ mun⁴, cyun⁴ zi¹ tin¹ haa⁶ si⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiùcái bù chūmén, quán zhī tiānxià shì
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄡˋ ㄘㄞˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔㄨ ㄇㄣˊ , ㄑㄩㄢˊ ㄓ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄕˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siòucái bù chumén, cyuán jhih tiansià shìh
    • Wade–Giles: hsiu⁴-tsʻai² pu⁴ chʻu¹-mên², chʻüan² chih¹ tʻien¹-hsia⁴ shih⁴
    • Yale: syòu-tsái bù chū-mén-, chywán jr̄ tyān-syà shr̀
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shiowtsair bu chumen, chyuan jy tianshiah shyh
    • Palladius: сюцай бу чумэнь, цюань чжи тянься ши (sjucaj bu čumɛnʹ, cjuanʹ čži tjanʹsja ši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯oʊ̯⁵¹ t͡sʰaɪ̯³⁵ pu⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰu⁵⁵ mən³⁵ t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ ɕi̯ä⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʂʐ̩⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sau³ coi⁴ bat¹ ceot¹ mun⁴, cyun⁴ zi¹ tin¹ haa⁶ si⁶
    • Yale: sau chòih bāt chēut mùhn, chyùhn jī tīn hah sih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sau³ tsoi⁴ bat⁷ tsoet⁷ mun⁴, tsyn⁴ dzi¹ tin¹ haa⁶ si⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: seo³ coi⁴ bed¹ cêd¹ mun⁴, qun⁴ ji¹ tin¹ ha⁶ xi⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐu̯³³ t͡sʰɔːi̯²¹ pɐt̚⁵ t͡sʰɵt̚⁵ muːn²¹ t͡sʰyːn²¹ t͡siː⁵⁵ tʰiːn⁵⁵ haː²² siː²²/

Proverb

秀才不出門，全知天下事

1. Synonym of 秀才不出門，能知天下事／秀才不出门，能知天下事 (xiùcái bù chūmén, néng zhī tiānxià shì)

   • 「秀才不出門，全知天下事」，在技術不發達的古代只是一句空話，在技術發達的現代雖然可以實現這句話，然而真正親知的是天下實踐著的人，那些人在他們的實踐中間取得了「知」，經過文字和技術的傳達而到達於「秀才」之手，秀才乃能間接地「知天下事」。 [MSC, trad.]
     「秀才不出门，全知天下事」，在技术不发达的古代只是一句空话，在技术发达的现代虽然可以实现这句话，然而真正亲知的是天下实践着的人，那些人在他们的实践中间取得了「知」，经过文字和技术的传达而到达于「秀才」之手，秀才乃能间接地「知天下事」。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1937, 毛澤東 (Mao Zedong), 《實踐論》 (On Practice), 《毛澤東選集》. English translation based on the Foreign Languages Press edition

     “Xiùcái bù chūmén, quán zhī tiānxià shì”, zài jìshù bù fādá de gǔdài zhǐshì yī jù kōnghuà, zài jìshù fādá de xiàndài suīrán kěyǐ shíxiàn zhè jù huà, rán'ér zhēnzhèng qīnzhī de shì tiānxià shíjiànzhe de rén, nàxiē rén zài tāmen de shíjiàn zhōngjiān qǔdé le “zhī”, jīngguò wénzì hé jìshù de chuándá ér dàodá yú “xiùcái” zhī shǒu, xiùcái nǎi néng jiànjiē de “zhī tiānxià shì”. [Pinyin]

     The saying, “without stepping outside his gate the scholar knows all the wide world's affairs”, was mere empty talk in past times when technology was undeveloped. Even though this saying can be valid in the present age of developed technology, the people with real personal knowledge are those engaged in practice the wide world over. And it is only when these people have come to “know” through their practice and when their knowledge has reached him through writing and technical media that the “scholar” can indirectly “know all the wide world's affairs”.