不識廬山真面目

See also: 不识庐山真面目

Chinese

	to fail to see; not to know; not to appreciate	Mount Lu	true features; true identity; true colors
trad. (不識廬山真面目/不識廬山眞面目)	不識	廬山	真面目/眞面目
simp. (不识庐山真面目)	不识	庐山	真面目
Literally: “to be unable to recognize the true face of Mount Lu”.

Etymology

From the poem 題西林壁 by Song dynasty poet Su Shi in 1084.

不識廬山 真面目，只緣身在此山中。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

不识庐山 真面目，只缘身在此山中。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 1084, Su Shi, 題西林壁

Bùshí Lúshān zhēnmiànmù, zhǐ yuán shēn zài cǐ shān zhōng. [Pinyin]

I cannot make out the true face of Mount Lu
only because I am within this very mountain.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): bùshí Lúshān zhēnmiànmù, bùshì Lúshān zhēnmiànmù

(Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˊ ㄌㄨˊ ㄕㄢㄓㄣㄇㄧㄢˋ ㄇㄨˋ, ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˋ ㄌㄨˊ ㄕㄢㄓㄣㄇㄧㄢˋ ㄇㄨˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ sik¹ lou⁴ saan¹ zan¹ min⁶ muk⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, Mainland)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: bùshí Lúshān zhēnmiànmù
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˊ ㄌㄨˊ ㄕㄢㄓㄣㄇㄧㄢˋ ㄇㄨˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: bùshíh Lúshan jhenmiànmù
  - Wade–Giles: pu⁴-shih² Lu²-shan¹ chên¹-mien⁴-mu⁴
  - Yale: bù-shŕ Lú-shān jēn-myàn-mù
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bushyr Lushan jenmiannmuh
  - Palladius: буши Лушань чжэньмяньму (buši Lušanʹ čžɛnʹmjanʹmu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹ ʂʐ̩³⁵ lu³⁵ ʂän⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂən⁵⁵ mi̯ɛn⁵¹⁻⁵³ mu⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: bùshì Lúshān zhēnmiànmù [Phonetic: búshì Lúshān zhēnmiànmù]
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˋ ㄌㄨˊ ㄕㄢㄓㄣㄇㄧㄢˋ ㄇㄨˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: bùshìh Lúshan jhenmiànmù
  - Wade–Giles: pu⁴-shih⁴ Lu²-shan¹ chên¹-mien⁴-mu⁴
  - Yale: bù-shr̀ Lú-shān jēn-myàn-mù
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bushyh Lushan jenmiannmuh
  - Palladius: буши Лушань чжэньмяньму (buši Lušanʹ čžɛnʹmjanʹmu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ ʂʐ̩⁵¹ lu³⁵ ʂän⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂən⁵⁵ mi̯ɛn⁵¹⁻⁵³ mu⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: bat¹ sik¹ lou⁴ saan¹ zan¹ min⁶ muk⁶
  - Yale: bāt sīk lòuh sāan jān mihn muhk
  - Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ sik⁷ lou⁴ saan¹ dzan¹ min⁶ muk⁹
  - Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ xig¹ lou⁴ san¹ zen¹ min⁶ mug⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ sɪk̚⁵ lou̯²¹ saːn⁵⁵ t͡sɐn⁵⁵ miːn²² mʊk̚²/

Idiom

不識廬山真面目

to not recognize the full picture or true nature of something because one only has a partial understanding of it

Related terms

廬山真面目／庐山真面目 (lúshān zhēnmiànmù)

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