不识之无 — “Illiterate”
不识之无 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “illiterate”. Unable to recognize even the simplest characters; unlettered; completely uneducated. Literally, “not know 'zhi' and 'wu'”.
Frequency
不识之无 Pronunciation and Pinyin
- 不bù
- 识shí
- 之zhī
- 无wú
不识之无 Character Breakdown
Example Sentence with 不识之无
他虽然年纪大了，但勤奋学习，绝不是一个不识之无的老人。
Although he is old, he studies diligently and is by no means an unlettered old man.
Origin and Story of 不识之无
During the Tang Dynasty, the great poet Bai Juyi was exceptionally intelligent from a young age.
According to the 'New Book of Tang,' he was able to recognize the characters 'zhi' and 'wu' by the time he was seven months old, a fact his wet nurse confirmed without fail through numerous tests.
His letter to Yuan Zhen further corroborates this: 'When I was six or seven months old, my wet nurse held me near a screen with writings. Someone pointed to the characters 'wu' and 'zhi' for me. Although I could not speak then, my mind had already silently recognized them.'
Idioms Related to 不识之无
Synonyms of 不识之无
Antonyms of 不识之无
More idioms starting with 不
- bù不yī一ér而zú足numerous and varied, impossible to list all
- bù不sān三bù不sì四improper or disreputable
- bù不shàng上bù不xià下stuck in an awkward position
- bù不shàng上bù不luò落in an awkward or embarrassing situation
- bù不shì世zhī之yè业unparalleled achievements
- bù不shì世zhī之chóu仇unrivaled enmity
- bù不shì世zhī之gōng功unparalleled achievement
- bù不shì世zhī之lüè略unparalleled strategy
- bù不sàng丧bǐ匕chàng鬯peace and order, rituals undisturbed
- bù不fēng丰bù不jiǎn俭neither extravagant nor frugal
- bù不fēng丰bù不shā杀neither extravagant nor frugal
- bù不wèi为wǔ五dǒu斗mǐ米zhé折yāo腰Refuse to compromise integrity for meager gain
Questions about 不识之无
- What does 不识之无 mean?
- 不识之无 (bù shí zhī wú) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “illiterate”.
- How do you pronounce 不识之无?
- 不识之无 is pronounced bù shí zhī wú in Mandarin Chinese.
- What does 不识之无 literally mean?
- Literally, 不识之无 means “not know 'zhi' and 'wu'”. It is used to mean “illiterate”.
- Where does 不识之无 come from?
- 不识之无 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
- What is the Chinese definition of 不识之无?
- 连“之”字、“无”字都不认识。形容人不识字，文化水平很低。