聞一知十

Chinese

		hear; news; celebrated hear; news; celebrated; sniff at	one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	to know; to be aware	ten
trad. (聞一知十)		聞	一	知	十
simp. (闻一知十)		闻	一	知	十
Literally: “hear one [point], know ten [points]”.

Etymology

From the Analects, Book 5 (《論語·公冶長》):

子謂子貢曰：「女與回也孰愈？」
對曰：「賜也何敢望回。回也聞一以知十，賜也聞一以知二。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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子谓子贡曰：「女与回也孰愈？」
对曰：「赐也何敢望回。回也闻一以知十，赐也闻一以知二。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Zǐ wèi Zǐgòng yuē: “Nǚ yǔ Huí yě shú yù?”
Duì yuē: “Cì yě hégǎn wàng Huí. Huí yě wén yī yǐ zhī shí, cì yě wén yī yǐ zhī èr.” [Pinyin]

The Master said to Zigong, "Which do you consider superior, yourself or [Yan] Hui?"
Zigong replied, "How dare I compare myself with Hui? Hui hears one point and knows all [lit. ten points] about a subject; I hear one point, and know a second."

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wényīzhīshí

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄣˊ ㄧ ㄓ ㄕˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): man⁴ jat¹ zi¹ sap⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wényīzhīshí [Phonetic: wényìzhīshí]
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄣˊ ㄧ ㄓ ㄕˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wúnyijhihshíh
    • Wade–Giles: wên²-i¹-chih¹-shih²
    • Yale: wén-yī-jr̄-shŕ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wenijyshyr
    • Palladius: вэньичжиши (vɛnʹičžiši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wən³⁵ i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ʂʐ̩³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: man⁴ jat¹ zi¹ sap⁶
    • Yale: màhn yāt jī sahp
    • Cantonese Pinyin: man⁴ jat⁷ dzi¹ sap⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: men⁴ yed¹ ji¹ seb⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɐn²¹ jɐt̚⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵ sɐp̚²/

Idiom

聞一知十

1. to be quick on the uptake; to understand the whole situation from just a few clues

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (聞一知十):

• → Korean: 문일지십(聞一知十) (muniljisip)

Others:

• → Japanese: 一(いち)を聞(き)いて十(じゅう)を知(し)る (ichi o kiite jū o shiru) (calque)
• → Korean: 하나를 들으면 열을 안다 (hanareul deureumyeon yeoreul anda), 하나를 보면 열을 안다 (hanareul bomyeon yeoreul anda, literally “to know ten by seeing one”) (calque) (partial calque)

See also

• 以一知萬／以一知万

Korean

Hanja in this term
聞	一	知	十

Noun

聞一知十 • (muniljisip) (hangeul 문일지십)

1. hanja form^? of 문일지십 (“being quick on the uptake; understanding the whole situation from just a few clues”)