只見樹木，不見森林

Chinese

		only; merely; just only; merely; just; but	to see; to meet; to appear to see; to meet; to appear; to interview	tree; to plant trees		not; no	to see; to meet; to appear to see; to meet; to appear; to interview	forest; trees; forest
trad. (只見樹木，不見森林)		只	見	樹木	，	不	見	森林
simp. (只见树木，不见森林)		只	见	树木	，	不	见	森林
Literally: “to see only the trees but not the forest”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zhǐjiànshùmù, bùjiànsēnlín

  (Zhuyin): ㄓˇ ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄕㄨˋ ㄇㄨˋ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄙㄣ ㄌㄧㄣˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zi² gin³ syu⁶ muk⁶, bat¹ gin³ sam¹ lam⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhǐjiànshùmù, bùjiànsēnlín [Phonetic: zhǐjiànshùmù, bújiànsēnlín]
    • Zhuyin: ㄓˇ ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄕㄨˋ ㄇㄨˋ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄙㄣ ㄌㄧㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhǐhjiànshùmù, bùjiànsenlín
    • Wade–Giles: chih³-chien⁴-shu⁴-mu⁴, pu⁴-chien⁴-sên¹-lin²
    • Yale: jř-jyàn-shù-mù-, bù-jyàn-sēn-lín
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jyyjiannshuhmuh, bujiannsenlin
    • Palladius: чжицзяньшуму, буцзяньсэньлинь (čžiczjanʹšumu, buczjanʹsɛnʹlinʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʂu⁵¹⁻⁵³ mu⁵¹ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹ sən⁵⁵ lin³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zi² gin³ syu⁶ muk⁶, bat¹ gin³ sam¹ lam⁴
    • Yale: jí gin syuh muhk, bāt gin sām làhm
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzi² gin³ sy⁶ muk⁹, bat⁷ gin³ sam¹ lam⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: ji² gin³ xu⁶ mug⁶, bed¹ gin³ sem¹ lem⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː³⁵ kiːn³³ syː²² mʊk̚² pɐt̚⁵ kiːn³³ sɐm⁵⁵ lɐm²¹/

Idiom

只見樹木，不見森林

1. cannot see the forest for the trees; to only pay attention to minor details but ignore the bigger picture

Synonyms

• 見樹不見林／见树不见林 (jiànshùbùjiànlín)