盲人说象 — “To draw conclusions from incomplete information”
盲人说象 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to draw conclusions from incomplete information”. Making a generalization based on a partial view, or failing to grasp the whole picture. Literally, “Blind men discussing an elephant”.
盲人说象 Pronunciation and Pinyin
盲人说象 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 盲人说象
Origin and Story of 盲人说象
The ancient Buddhist scriptures tell a story about several blind men who were asked to describe an elephant.
One blind man touched the elephant's leg and declared it was like a pillar. Another touched its ear and said it was like a fan. A third felt its tail and claimed it was like a rope.
They each described the elephant based only on the part they touched, without grasping the complete image of the elephant.
Idioms Related to 盲人说象
Synonyms of 盲人说象
Antonyms of 盲人说象
More idioms starting with 盲
- máng盲rén人mén扪zhú烛
- máng盲rén人bǎ把zhú烛A futile or useless act
- máng盲rén人xiā瞎mǎ马acting blindly or recklessly
- máng盲rén人qí骑xiā瞎mǎ马blindly acting without foresight, risking disaster
- máng盲mù目lè乐guān观blindly optimistic
- máng盲mù目chóng崇bài拜blind worship
- máng盲yǎn眼wú无zhū珠willfully blind to the obvious
- máng盲wēng翁mén扪yuè籥make arbitrary judgments from partial understanding
- máng盲wēng翁mén扪yào钥make rash judgments from partial understanding
- máng盲zhě者dé得jìng镜unable to function or talent unrecognized
- máng盲fēng风dù妒yǔ雨fierce and violent wind and rain
Recommended tools
Writing Worksheets
Printable tracing sheets with a QR learning companion
Open the tool →
Chinese Text Image Generator
Create PNGs with pinyin, highlight character parts or remove strokes
Open the tool →
Bingo Cards
Picture and word Bingo for your class
Open the tool →
Character Highlight Animator
Choose character parts and animate their colors, together or in stroke order
Open the tool →Questions about 盲人说象
What does 盲人说象 mean?
盲人说象 (máng rén shuō xiàng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to draw conclusions from incomplete information”.
How do you pronounce 盲人说象?
盲人说象 is pronounced máng rén shuō xiàng in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 盲人说象 literally mean?
Literally, 盲人说象 means “Blind men discussing an elephant”. It is used to mean “to draw conclusions from incomplete information”.
Where does 盲人说象 come from?
盲人说象 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 盲人说象?
比喻看问题以偏概全。