雾里看花 — “To see flowers in a fog”
雾里看花 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “originally describing elderly people with poor eyesight, seeing things vaguely. Later, it metaphorically refers to having a blurred or unclear understanding of a situation, making it hard to see things distinctly; to have a vague or superficial view of something”. Literally, “to see flowers in a fog”.
雾里看花 Pronunciation and Pinyin
- 雾wù
- 里lǐ
- 看kàn
- 花huā
雾里看花 Character Breakdown
Example Sentence with 雾里看花
Origin and Story of 雾里看花
During the Tang Dynasty, the renowned poet Du Fu experienced a life full of hardships and misfortunes, often living in difficult circumstances. He made a boat his home, drifting from place to place.
During his travels, he arrived in Changsha and composed the poem titled "Aboard a Boat on Lesser Cold Food Day." In this poem, there are lines that read: "On a fine day, food and drink are still cold; leaning on a table, desolate, wearing a pheasant cap. The spring water makes the boat feel like sitting in heaven; old age makes flowers seem like viewing them through a mist. Graceful butterflies flutter past the idle curtain, scattered gulls descend into the rushing rapids."
The line "老年花似雾中看" (old age makes flowers seem like viewing them through a mist) describes the blurred vision of an elderly person. This imagery later evolved into the idiom "雾里看花," which is used to describe having a vague or indistinct perception of things, or a blurred understanding of a situation.
Idioms Related to 雾里看花
Synonyms of 雾里看花
More idioms starting with 雾
- wù雾xīng兴yún云yǒng涌emerge rapidly in great numbers
- wù雾cǎn惨yún云chóu愁bleak, desolate, and sorrowful atmosphere
- wù雾sàn散yún云pī披difficulties quickly disappear
- wù雾àn暗yún云shēn深obscure and distant
- wù雾yǒng涌yún云zhēng蒸mists surging and clouds steaming
- wù雾qǐ起yún云yǒng涌numerous things emerging rapidly
- wù雾shì释bīng冰róng融doubts and difficulties disappear
- wù雾suǒ锁yān烟mí迷shrouded in mist and fog
- wù雾gé阁yún云chuāng窗misty pavilions and cloudy windows
- wù雾jí集yún云hé合to gather in great numbers
- wù雾bìn鬓yún云huán鬟woman's beautiful misty cloud-like hair
- wù雾bìn鬓fēng风huán鬟beautiful flowing dishevelled hair
Questions about 雾里看花
- What does 雾里看花 mean?
- 雾里看花 (wù lǐ kàn huā) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “originally describing elderly people with poor eyesight, seeing things vaguely. Later, it metaphorically refers to having a blurred or unclear understanding of a situation, making it hard to see things distinctly; to have a vague or superficial view of something”.
- How do you pronounce 雾里看花?
- 雾里看花 is pronounced wù lǐ kàn huā in Mandarin Chinese.
- What does 雾里看花 literally mean?
- Literally, 雾里看花 means “to see flowers in a fog”. It is used to mean “originally describing elderly people with poor eyesight, seeing things vaguely. Later, it metaphorically refers to having a blurred or unclear understanding of a situation, making it hard to see things distinctly; to have a vague or superficial view of something”.
- Where does 雾里看花 come from?
- 雾里看花 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
- What is the Chinese definition of 雾里看花?
- 原形容年老视力差，看东西模糊，后也比喻看事情不真切。