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不识庐山真面目

bù shí Lú shān zhēn miàn mùdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. not to know the true face of Lushan Mountain (idiom) / fig. can't see the forest for the trees
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-097209f34302dd6b. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

不識廬山真面目 不识庐山真面目 [bu4 shi2 Lu2 shan1 zhen1 mian4 mu4] /lit. not to know the true face of Lushan Mountain (idiom)/fig. can't see the forest for the trees/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 不識廬山真面目

  • 不
    bù

    no / not so / (bound form) not / un-

  • 识
    shí

    to know / knowledge / Taiwan pr. [shì]

    zhì

    to record / to write a footnote

  • 庐
    lú

    hut

    Lú

    surname Lu / Luzhou or Lu Prefecture 廬州|庐州[Lú Zhōu], a prefecture between the 6th and 13th centuries in present-day Anhui / Mount Lu 廬山|庐山[Lú Shān] in Jiangxi Province

  • 山
    shān

    mountain / hill (CL:座[zuò]) / (coll.) small bundle of straw for silkworms to spin cocoons on

    Shān

    surname Shan

  • 真
    zhēn

    really / truly / indeed / real / true / genuine

  • 面
    miàn

    face / side / surface / aspect / top / classifier for objects with flat surfaces such as drums, mirrors, flags etc / flour / noodles / (of food) soft (not crunchy) / (slang) (of a person) ineffectual / spineless

  • 目
    mù

    eye / (literary) to look / to regard / eye (of a net) / mesh / mesh size / grit size (abbr. for 目數|目数[mù shù]) / item / section / list / catalogue / (taxonomy) order / name / title

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.