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秀才不出门，全知天下事

xiù cai bù chū mén , quán zhī tiān xià shìdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
a learned person need not leave his home to know what's going on in the world (idiom)
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-300c277a1d6c527a. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

秀才不出門，全知天下事 秀才不出门，全知天下事 [xiu4 cai5 bu4 chu1 men2 , quan2 zhi1 tian1 xia4 shi4] /a learned person need not leave his home to know what's going on in the world (idiom)/

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: 秀才不出門，全知天下事

  • 秀
    xiù

    (bound form) refined / elegant / graceful / beautiful / (bound form) superior / excellent / (loanword) show (as in 時裝秀|时装秀[shí zhuāng xiù]) / (loanword) to show off / to flaunt (as in 秀廚藝|秀厨艺[xiù chú yì]) / (literary) to grow / to bloom / (of grain crops) to produce ears

  • 才
    cái

    ability / talent / sb of a certain type / a capable individual / then and only then / just now / (before an expression of quantity) only / (emphatic, esp. in contrast or correction) really / actually / (variant of 才[cái]) just now / (variant of 才[cái]) (before an expression of quantity) only

  • 不
    bù

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

  • 出
    chū

    to go out / to come out / to arise / to occur / to produce / to yield / to go beyond / to exceed / (used after a verb to indicate an outward direction or a positive result) / classifier for dramas, plays, operas etc

  • 门
    mén

    gate / door / doorway / gateway / opening (CL:扇[shàn]) / valve / switch / other door-like or gate-like structure / way to do sth / knack / method / approach / family / household / lineage / (bound form) sect / school / faction (religious or academic) / (bound form) class / category / division / phylum / classifier for courses, fields of study, branches of technology, relatives by marriage, guns etc / (suffix) -gate (scandal)

    Mén

    surname Men

  • 全
    quán

    all / whole / entire / every / complete

    Quán

    surname Quan

  • 知
    zhī

    to know / to be aware

  • 天
    tiān

    day / sky / heaven

  • 下
    xià

    down / downwards / below / lower / later / next (week etc) / second (of two parts) / to decline / to go down / to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc) / measure word to show the frequency of an action

  • 事
    shì

    matter / thing / item / work / affair / CL:件[jiàn],樁|桩[zhuāng],回[huí]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.