百聞は一見に如かず
Japanese
| Kanji in this term | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 百 | 聞 | 一 | 見 | 如 |
| ひゃく Grade: 1 |
ぶん Grade: 2 |
いち > いっ Grade: 1 |
けん Grade: 1 |
し Grade: S |
| Alternative spelling |
|---|
| 百聞は一見にしかず |
Etymology
Calque of Literary Chinese 百聞不如一見 (bǎi wén bùrú yī jiàn, literally “Hearing a hundred times is not as good as seeing once”). From the Book of Han.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ça̠kɯ̟bɯ̟ɰ̃ β̞a̠ ik̚ke̞ɲ̟ ɲ̟i ɕika̠zɨ]
Idiom
百聞は一見に如かず • (hyakubun wa ikken ni shikazu)
- you understand better by seeing for yourself than hearing about it, seeing is believing
Usage notes
Similar to a picture is worth a thousand words but is not limited to pictures.