諺語 · a single proverb
百聞一見
Simplified: 百闻一见
What does 百聞一見 (bǎi wén yī jiàn) mean?
百聞一見 (bǎi wén yī jiàn) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "a hundred hearings, one seeing." In use it means: Hearing about something a hundred times cannot match seeing it once; direct experience trumps any amount of report. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Fire note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Horse.
Literally: "a hundred hearings, one seeing."
The reading
They described the canyon for years. The photographs showed you part of it. The videos showed you more. Then you stood at the rim and the wind hit your face and the scale hit your brain and you realized that nothing you had heard or seen had prepared you for the actual thing. Some experiences resist all forms of transmission except presence.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Variant of 百聞不如一見; Book of Han 漢書
Sits beside
Keep reading
Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Wisdom & Learning, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Horse, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.
Questions
Is 百聞一見 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 百聞一見 (bǎi wén yī jiàn) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語), and it comes from Variant of 百聞不如一見; Book of Han 漢書. It is living Chinese heritage, given here with per-character pinyin and its source so you can trust the line, not a phrase invented in English.
How do you pronounce 百聞一見?
In Mandarin it is bǎi wén yī jiàn. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 百聞一見 aloud in Mandarin.