瞎子摸象 in English xia1 zi5 mo1 xiang4 Meaning

Meanings

  • blind people touch an elephant (idiomatic expression, from Nirvana sutra 大般涅槃經|大般涅盘经[da4 ban1 Nie4 pan2 jing1]); metaphorically unable to see the big picture
  • to mistake the part for the whole
  • unable to see the wood for the trees

Simplified Characters

瞎 子 摸 象

Traditional Characters

瞎 子 摸 象

Pinyin

xia1 zi5 mo1 xiang4

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

瞎xia1blind 子zi5son 摸mo1to feel with the hand 象xiang4elephant