Blind people feel the elephant

Blind people feel the elephant

The Chinese idiom, Pinyin, is "Zhang ò NGM á NGM ō Xi à ng", which means that many blind people feel the elephant, feel the leg like a pillar, feel the body like a wall, feel the tail like a snake, and argue with each other endlessly. Metaphorically speaking, we can generalize the whole. From the great Nirvana Sutra.

The origin of Idioms

"Daban Nirvana Sutra" 32: "the person who touches the teeth is like the root of radish, the person who touches the ear is like a dustpan, the person who touches the nose is like a stone, the person who touches the foot is like a mortar, the person who touches the spine is like a bed, the person who touches the abdomen is like an urn, and the person who touches the tail is like a rope."

Analysis of Idioms

Synonyms: people touch the elephant, blind people touch the elephant

Idiom usage

Shaolin is a cold seat in Shaolin. The disciples talk about heresies, which is like many blind people feel the elephant. Song Puji's "five Lantern Festival" Volume 18