坐井观天 (zuò jǐng guān tiān) — to have tunnel vision; to be narrow-minded and ignorant due to limited experience

Definition

An idiom: literally 'sit in a well and look at the sky.' It mocks someone whose narrow experience makes them think they know everything — i.e., being ignorant and small-minded from limited perspective.

idiom
to have tunnel visionto be narrow-minded and ignorant due to limited experience

Examples

  • ，坐井观天。
    Tā zǒng yǐ wéi zì jǐ shì duì de, zhēn shì zuò jǐng guān tiān.
    He always thinks he's right — truly a case of sitting in a well and looking at the sky.
  • ，坐井观天。
    Rú guǒ bú qù liǎo jiě shì jiè, jiù huì xiàng zuò jǐng guān tiān yí yàng kě xiào.
    If you don't learn about the world, you'll be as ridiculous as someone sitting in a well and looking at the sky.
  • ，坐井观天。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī zhī guān zhù běn dì shì chǎng, wèi miǎn zuò jǐng guān tiān le.
    This company only focuses on the local market — that's rather narrow-minded.

Origin

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The form 坐 combines 留, 'to stay', and 土, 'ground'.

Open 坐 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 井 draws a square well with supports on four sides.

Open 井 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 觀; 观 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
見見jiànsee
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn觀guān
Same sound today

The traditional form 觀 uses 見 (see) for meaning and 雚 for sound.

Open 观 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →

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