盲人摸象
Traditional form:
盲人摸象
Pinyin (reading):
mángrénmōxiàng
Definitions:
- blind people touch an elephant (idiom, from Nirvana sutra 大般涅槃經／大般涅盘经 (dàbān Nièpánjīng)); fig. unable to see the big picture
- to mistake the part for the whole
- unable to see the wood for the trees
Characters:
- 盲 - blind; shortsighted; unperceptive
- 人 - man, person; people
- 摸 - to caress, to stroke, to gently touch
- 象 - elephant; ivory; figure, image
Traditional characters: