百聞は一見に如かず

Japanese

Kanji in this term
百	聞	一	見	如
ひゃく Grade: 1	ぶん Grade: 2	いち > いっ Grade: 1	けん Grade: 1	し Grade: S

Alternative spelling
百聞は一見にしかず

Etymology

Calque of Literary Chinese 百聞不如一見 (bǎi wén bùrú yī jiàn, literally “Hearing a hundred times is not as good as seeing once”). From the Book of Han.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [çja̠kɯᵝbɯ̃ᵝ(ŋ) ɰᵝa̠ ik̚kẽn nʲi ɕika̠d͡zɯᵝ]

Idiom

百(ひゃく)聞(ぶん)は一(いっ)見(けん)に如(し)かず • (hyakubun wa ikken ni shikazu) 

1. you understand better by seeing for yourself than hearing about it, seeing is believing

Usage notes

Similar to a picture is worth a thousand words but is not limited to pictures.