máng rén mō xiàngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
blind people touch an elephant (idiom, from Nirvana sutra 大般涅槃經|大般涅盘经[dà bān Niè pán jīng]); fig. unable to see the big picture / to mistake the part for the whole / unable to see the wood 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-5acf1d41bdf78367. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

盲人摸象 盲人摸象 [mang2 ren2 mo1 xiang4] /blind people touch an elephant (idiom, from Nirvana sutra 大般涅槃經|大般涅盘经[da4 ban1 Nie4 pan2 jing1]); fig. unable to see the big picture/to mistake the part for the whole/unable to see the wood for the trees/

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Reference information

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

Character information

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盲人摸象
Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.