走zǒu馬mǎ觀guān花huā

What does 走馬觀花 (zǒu mǎ guān huā) mean?

走馬觀花 (zǒu mǎ guān huā) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語). Word for word it reads "looking at flowers from a galloping horse." In use it means: A superficial glance that misses the details; rushing through something too fast to actually see it. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Wood note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Horse.

Literally: "looking at flowers from a galloping horse."

The reading

The horse gallops past the garden and you see color. You do not see the individual petals, the insects, the way the stem bends toward the light. Speed gives you coverage. It does not give you understanding. The person who has visited forty countries in a year and the person who has lived in one for forty years have both traveled. Only one of them knows the flowers.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typechéngyǔ 成語
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element木 Wood
• Zodiac tie馬 Year of the Horse

Source Meng Jiao 孟郊, Deng Ke Hou 登科後 (After Passing the Exam)

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.