走马看花 – Zou Ma Kan Hua – See Things Superficially
Chengyu
走马看花 – zǒu mǎ kàn huā
Chinese Character Break Down
走 - ride
马 – horse
看 – look
花 – flower
走马看花: Look at flowers while riding a horse
Idiom Meaning
To do something very superficially, without paying attention to it’s deeper meaning.
Chengyu Examples
旅游本身的性质就是走马看花。
lǚyóu běnshēnde xìngzhí jiùshì zǒumǎkànhuā.
The very nature of tourism itself is just superficial.
他只不过走马看花地看完了这本书。
tā zhǐ búguò zǒumǎkànhuāde kànwánle zhèběn shū.
He only read the book very superficially.
Chengyu Story and Background
The famous Chinese poet Ming Jiao lived in the mid-Tang Dynasty. However, the beginning of his career was all but smooth. He came from a poor family and was very talented and studiuous; yet somehow managed to keep failing the Imperial Examination several times.
Luckily he didn’t give up and in 797 AD eventually passed the exam in Chang’an (today’s Xi’an). Feeling extremely delighted, he jumped his horse and wrote a poem:
昔日龌龊不足夸，
今朝放荡思无涯；
春风得意马蹄疾，
一日看尽长安花。
Something like this:
Yesterday’s unpleasentness is nothing to boast of,
Now I feel alleviated and my thoughts are borderless;
The spring breeze makes me feel content, the horse hoofs are fast,
In one day I will see all of Chang’an’s flowers.
One Comment to “走马看花 – Zou Ma Kan Hua – See Things Superficially”
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This is a fantastic website, thank you so much for putting it up. Damon Runyon wrote a short story called, “A story goes with it.” This phrase refers to the notion that a horse racing tip is worthless unless it is validated because, “a story goes with it”. similarly the meaning and truthfullness of a chengyu is only apparent in the “story goes with it”.
As children we form much of our cultural identity through the stories we learn. For example, the sky is falling from the little red hen. Since the chinese storys are not native to me, it is absolutely vital that I learn them if I wish to have any true understanding of chinese and the richness of its flavor and culture.
Also, since stories are easy to remember it makes the chengyu easy to learn, so again I thank you for the service you provide and the cultural understanding which you are promoting world wide.