視而不見

Chinese

		to look at; to regard; to inspect	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	to see; to meet; to appear to see; to meet; to appear; to interview
trad. (視而不見)		視	而	不	見
simp. (视而不见)		视	而	不	见

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): shì'érbùjiàn

  (Zhuyin): ㄕˋ ㄦˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄐㄧㄢˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): si⁶ ji⁴ bat¹ gin³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shì'érbùjiàn [Phonetic: shì'érbújiàn]
    • Zhuyin: ㄕˋ ㄦˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄐㄧㄢˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shìh-érbùjiàn
    • Wade–Giles: shih⁴-êrh²-pu⁴-chien⁴
    • Yale: shr̀-ér-bù-jyàn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyherlbujiann
    • Palladius: шиэрбуцзянь (šierbuczjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂʐ̩⁵¹ ˀɤɻ³⁵ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: si⁶ ji⁴ bat¹ gin³
    • Yale: sih yìh bāt gin
    • Cantonese Pinyin: si⁶ ji⁴ bat⁷ gin³
    • Guangdong Romanization: xi⁶ yi⁴ bed¹ gin³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siː²² jiː²¹ pɐt̚⁵ kiːn³³/

Idiom

視而不見

1. to turn a blind eye; to deliberately overlook or ignore

See also

• 聽而不聞／听而不闻 (tīng'érbùwén)