囫圇吞棗

Chinese

		complete; whole; sweeping and vague	to swallow; to take	jujube
trad. (囫圇吞棗)		囫圇	吞	棗
simp. (囫囵吞枣)		囫囵	吞	枣
alternative forms		鶻崙吞棗／鹘仑吞枣
Literally: “to swallow a jujube whole”.

Etymology

From a story in the Blue Cliff Record (《碧巖錄》):

若是知有底人，細嚼來嚥；若是不知有底人，一似渾崙吞箇棗。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

若是知有底人，细嚼来咽；若是不知有底人，一似浑仑吞个枣。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

Ruòshì zhī yǒu de rén, xì jué lái yān; ruòshì bùzhī yǒu de rén, yīsì húnlún tūn gè zǎo. [Pinyin]

Those who know the ins and outs will chew and swallow it slowly and carefully; those who don't will act like swallowing a jujube whole.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): húlúntūnzǎo

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄨˊ ㄌㄨㄣˊ ㄊㄨㄣ ㄗㄠˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): fat¹ leon⁴ tan¹ zou²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: húlúntūnzǎo
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄨˊ ㄌㄨㄣˊ ㄊㄨㄣ ㄗㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: húlúntunzǎo
    • Wade–Giles: hu²-lun²-tʻun¹-tsao³
    • Yale: hú-lwún-twūn-dzǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: hwuluentuentzao
    • Palladius: хулуньтуньцзао (xulunʹtunʹczao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xu³⁵ lu̯ən³⁵ tʰu̯ən⁵⁵ t͡sɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: húlúntūnzǎor
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄨˊ ㄌㄨㄣˊ ㄊㄨㄣ ㄗㄠˇㄦ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: húlúntunzǎor
    • Wade–Giles: hu²-lun²-tʻun¹-tsao³-ʼrh
    • Yale: hú-lwún-twūn-dzǎur
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: hwuluentuentzaol
    • Palladius: хулуньтуньцзаор (xulunʹtunʹczaor)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xu³⁵ lu̯ən³⁵ tʰu̯ən⁵⁵ t͡saʊ̯ɻʷ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: fat¹ leon⁴ tan¹ zou²
    • Yale: fāt lèuhn tān jóu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: fat⁷ loen⁴ tan¹ dzou²
    • Guangdong Romanization: fed¹ lên⁴ ten¹ zou²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fɐt̚⁵ lɵn²¹ tʰɐn⁵⁵ t͡sou̯³⁵/

Idiom

囫圇吞棗

1. (figurative) to accept without thinking; to read without understanding

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (囫圇吞棗):

• → Korean: 홀륜탄조(囫圇呑棗) (hollyuntanjo)