孤陋寡闻 gū lòu guǎ wén ignorant

Explanation

形容见识少，知道的少。

Describes someone who has little knowledge and experience.

Origin Story

从前，有个村子里住着一位老农，他一辈子都守着自己的一亩三分地，很少与外界接触。他只知道种地，对其他的事情一概不知，甚至连县城是什么样子都不知道。有一天，县里来了一位学者，想了解一下农村的情况。他来到老农家，与老农聊了起来。学者问老农：“你知道世界上还有哪些国家吗？”老农挠挠头，说道：“我只知道咱们村，其他的地方，我孤陋寡闻，实在不知道。”学者又问：“你知道宇宙有多大吗？”老农更是摇头不知。学者叹了口气，说道：“看来，你真是孤陋寡闻啊！”老农听了，脸上有些不好意思，但他心里却并没有觉得有什么不对。在他看来，自己只要能种好地，养活家人就行了，其他的事情，他根本就不关心。

cóngqián, yǒu gè cūnzi lǐ zhù zhe yī wèi lǎo nóng, tā yībèizi dōu shǒu zhe zìjǐ de yī mǔ sān fēn dì, hěn shǎo yǔ wàijiè jiēchù. tā zhǐ zhīdào zhòng dì, duì qítā de shìqíng yīgài bù zhī, shènzhì lián xiàn chéng shì shénme yàngzi dōu bù zhīdào. yǒu yī tiān, xiàn lǐ lái le yī wèi xué zhě, xiǎng liǎojiě yīxià nóngcūn de qíngkuàng. tā lái dào lǎo nóng jiā, yǔ lǎo nóng liáo le qǐlái. xué zhě wèn lǎo nóng：“nǐ zhīdào shìjiè shàng hái yǒu nǎxiē guójiā ma？” lǎo nóng náo náo tóu, shuōdào：“wǒ zhǐ zhīdào zánmen cūn, qítā de dìfang, wǒ gū lòu guǎ wén, shízài bù zhīdào.” xué zhě yòu wèn：“nǐ zhīdào yǔzhòu yǒu duō dà ma？” lǎo nóng gèng shì yáotóu bù zhī. xué zhě tàn le kōng qì, shuōdào：“kàn lái, nǐ zhēn shì gū lòu guǎ wén a！” lǎo nóng tīng le, liǎn shang yǒuxiē bù hǎo yìsi, dàn tā xīnlǐ què bìng méiyǒu juéde yǒu shénme bù duì. zài tā kàn lái, zìjǐ zhǐ yào néng zhòng hǎo dì, yǎnghuó jiārén jiù xíng le, qítā de shìqíng, tā gēnběn jiù bù guānxīn.

Once upon a time, there was an old farmer living in a village. He spent his whole life guarding his own small piece of land and rarely contacted the outside world. He only knew how to farm and was completely ignorant of other things, not even knowing what the county town looked like. One day, a scholar came from the county and wanted to understand the situation in the countryside. He came to the farmer's house and chatted with the farmer. The scholar asked the farmer, "Do you know any other countries in the world?" The farmer scratched his head and said, "I only know our village. As for other places, I am ignorant and really don't know." The scholar asked again, "Do you know how big the universe is?" The farmer shook his head even more in ignorance. The scholar sighed and said, "It seems that you are really ignorant!" The farmer listened, feeling a little embarrassed, but he didn't feel anything wrong in his heart. In his opinion, as long as he could farm well and support his family, he didn't care about other things.

Usage

用于形容人见识少，学问浅。

yòng yú xiáoróng rén jiànshí shǎo, xuéwèn qiǎn

Used to describe someone who has little knowledge and shallow learning.

Examples

• 他孤陋寡闻，对西方历史了解不多。

  tā gū lòu guǎ wén, duì xīfāng lìshǐ liǎojiě bù duō.

  He is ignorant and doesn't know much about Western history.

• 我孤陋寡闻，对这方面的情况并不了解。

  wǒ gū lòu guǎ wén, duì zhè fāngmiàn de qíngkuàng bìng bù liǎojiě

  I am ignorant and don't know much about this.

Related Idioms

• 才疏学浅

• 浅见寡识

Opposite Idioms

• 博学多才

• 见多识广