like the palm of one 's own hand

like the palm of one 's own hand

Knowing as the palm of one's hand is a Chinese word, pronounced Li ǎ or ú zh ǐ zh ǎ ng. It describes the situation very clearly, like pointing to the palm of one's hand to show others. From the Analects of Confucius, Bayi.

Analysis of Idioms

[synonym] is clear at a glance, clear and penetrating, and [antonym] is mysterious and dark

The origin of Idioms

"The Analects of Confucius · Bayi": the theory of "or ask". Confucius said, "I don't know. I know what the speaker is to the world. It's like showing all the people." It's the palm of the hand. " He Yanji quoted Bao Xian as saying: "Confucius said that the person who knows the rites is easy to say, for things in the world, such as things in the palm of his hand."

Idiom usage

To be formal; to be predicate; to know things well. In contrast, beauty and ugliness are different. Wen Yiduo's winter night review

Idioms and allusions

It is a grand sacrificial activity for ancient emperors or princes to worship their ancestors in the ancestral temple. There are three types of ancestor worship ceremonies in the Zhou Dynasty: first, the succession of the emperor to the throne. The grand sacrifice held in the Taimiao temple is a joint sacrifice held by the ancestors and the ancestors of the past dynasties. Second, the great sacrifice of the emperor and the princes once every five years. The God of Gaozu and those above Gaozu is sacrificed in the Taimiao Temple (below Gaozu, they are sacrificed in the temple). Third, the ancestral temple was sacrificed at four o'clock. It is held every summer. Someone asked Confucius about the connotation and regulations of Li. Confucius said, "I don't know. Those who know how to govern the world can master it as if they put it here Confucius pointed to his palm as he spoke. Confucius knew Li. His answer to "I don't know" is a kind of evasion. Why didn't he want to say that Confucius was born in the late spring and Autumn period. The royal family of Zhou Dynasty has declined, the rites and music have collapsed, the old hierarchy has been destroyed, and the patriarchal order has been disordered. Confucius thought that Zhou rites were the most perfect, and he himself took it as his duty to restore Zhou rites. The reason why Confucius didn't want to answer may be that he disdained to answer the man's question, or that Ji's sacrifice in the state of Lu violated the Zhou Dynasty. Or he thought that the rites of Lu did not conform to what he knew.