聞一知十

Chinese

	hear; news; celebrated hear; news; celebrated; sniff at	one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	to know; to be aware	ten
trad. (聞一知十)	聞	一	知	十
simp. (闻一知十)	闻	一	知	十
Literally: “hear one [point], know ten [points]”.

Etymology

From the Analects of Confucius:

子謂子貢曰：「女與回也孰愈？」
對曰：「賜也何敢望回。回也聞一以知十，賜也聞一以知二。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

子谓子贡曰：“女与回也孰愈？”
对曰：“赐也何敢望回。回也闻一以知十，赐也闻一以知二。” [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Zǐ wèi Zǐgòng yuē: “Nǚ yǔ Huí yě shú yù?”
Duì yuē: “Cì yě hégǎn wàng Huí. Huí yě wén yī yǐ zhī shí, cì yě wén yī yǐ zhī èr.” [Pinyin]

The Master said to Zigong, "Which do you consider superior, yourself or [Yan] Hui?"
Zigong replied, "How dare I compare myself with Hui? Hui hears one point and knows all [lit. ten points] about a subject; I hear one point, and know a second."

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): wényīzhīshí
(Zhuyin): ㄨㄣˊ ㄧㄓㄕˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): man⁴ jat¹ zi¹ sap⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wényīzhīshí [Phonetic: wényìzhīshí]
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄣˊ ㄧㄓㄕˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wúnyijhihshíh
  - Wade–Giles: wên²-i¹-chih¹-shih²
  - Yale: wén-yī-jr̄-shŕ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wenijyshyr
  - Palladius: вэньичжиши (vɛnʹičžiši)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /wən³⁵ i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ʂʐ̩³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: man⁴ jat¹ zi¹ sap⁶
  - Yale: màhn yāt jī sahp
  - Cantonese Pinyin: man⁴ jat⁷ dzi¹ sap⁹
  - Guangdong Romanization: men⁴ yed¹ ji¹ seb⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɐn²¹ jɐt̚⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵ sɐp̚²/

Idiom

聞一知十

to be quick on the uptake; to understand the whole situation from just a few clues

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (聞一知十):

→ Korean: 문일지십(聞一知十) (muniljisip)

Others:

→ Japanese: 一(いち)を聞(き)いて十(じゅう)を知(し)る (ichi o kiite jū o shiru) (calque)
→ Korean: 하나를 들으면 열을 안다 (hanareul deureumyeon yeoreul anda), 하나를 보면 열을 안다 (hanareul bomyeon yeoreul anda, literally “to know ten by seeing one”) (calque) (partial calque)

Korean

Hanja in this term
聞	一	知	十

Noun

聞一知十 • (muniljisip) (hangeul 문일지십)

Hanja form^? of 문일지십 (“being quick on the uptake; understanding the whole situation from just a few clues”).