聽而不聞

See also: 听而不闻

Chinese

		let; allow; listen let; allow; listen; hear; obey	and; as well as; but (not) and; as well as; but (not); yet (not); (shows causal relation); (shows change of state); (shows contrast)	not; no	hear; news; celebrated hear; news; celebrated; sniff at
trad. (聽而不聞)		聽	而	不	聞
simp. (听而不闻)		听	而	不	闻

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 bù jiàn, 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): tīng'érbùwén

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄥ ㄦˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄨㄣˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ting¹ ji⁴ bat¹ man⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tīng'érbùwén
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄥ ㄦˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄨㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ting-érbùwún
    • Wade–Giles: tʻing¹-êrh²-pu⁴-wên²
    • Yale: tīng-ér-bù-wén
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tingerlbuwen
    • Palladius: тинъэрбувэнь (tinʺerbuvɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiŋ⁵⁵ ˀɤɻ³⁵ pu⁵¹ wən³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ting¹ ji⁴ bat¹ man⁴
    • Yale: tīng yìh bāt màhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ting¹ ji⁴ bat⁷ man⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: ting¹ yi⁴ bed¹ men⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰɪŋ⁵⁵ jiː²¹ pɐt̚⁵ mɐn²¹/

Idiom

聽而不聞

1. to hear but not pay attention or care; to turn a deaf ear; to be indifferent

See also

• 視而不見／视而不见 (shì'érbùjiàn)