心不在焉

Chinese

		heart; mind	to be not at; to be out; to be dead to be not at; to be out; to be dead; to have passed away	where; how
simp. and trad. (心不在焉)		心	不在	焉
Literally: “the heart is not here”.

Etymology

From the Great Learning (《大學》) in the Book of Rites:

心不在焉，視而不見，聽而不聞，食而不知其味。此謂修身在正其心。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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心不在焉，视而不见，听而不闻，食而不知其味。此谓修身在正其心。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Xīn bùzài yān, shì ér bùjiàn, tīng ér bù wén, shí ér bùzhī qí wèi. Cǐ wèi xiūshēn zài zhèng qí xīn. [Pinyin]

When the mind is not present, we look without seeing; we hear without understanding; and we eat and do not know the taste of what we eat. This is what is meant by saying that the cultivation of the person depends on the rectifying of the mind.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xīnbùzàiyān

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄣ ㄅㄨˋ ㄗㄞˋ ㄧㄢ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sam¹ bat¹ zoi⁶ jin⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xīnbùzàiyān [Phonetic: xīnbúzàiyān]
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄣ ㄅㄨˋ ㄗㄞˋ ㄧㄢ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sinbùzàiyan
    • Wade–Giles: hsin¹-pu⁴-tsai⁴-yen¹
    • Yale: syīn-bù-dzài-yān
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shinbutzayian
    • Palladius: синьбуцзайянь (sinʹbuczajjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕin⁵⁵ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ t͡saɪ̯⁵¹ jɛn⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sam¹ bat¹ zoi⁶ jin⁴
    • Yale: sām bāt joih yìhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sam¹ bat⁷ dzoi⁶ jin⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: sem¹ bed¹ zoi⁶ yin⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐm⁵⁵ pɐt̚⁵ t͡sɔːi̯²² jiːn²¹/

Idiom

心不在焉

1. absent-minded; absent-mindedly; preoccupied

Related terms

• 走心 (zǒuxīn)