窥见一斑 Kuī jiàn yī bān glimpse of

Explanation

指只了解事物的一部分，不能完全了解事物真相。

It refers to only understanding a part of things and not being able to fully understand the truth.

Origin Story

话说唐朝时期，有个书生名叫李白，他从小就喜欢读书，博览群书，对各种知识都略知一二。有一天，他听说深山里住着一位隐士，这位隐士精通天文地理，医术高明，于是李白便前往拜访。跋山涉水，历经千辛万苦，李白终于找到了隐士的住所，那是一间简陋的小木屋，隐士正在屋里打坐。李白上前向隐士请教，隐士并没有直接回答他的问题，而是拿出一只精美的玉杯，里面盛满了清澈的泉水，对李白说：“你只喝一口这泉水，就能体会到人生的真谛。”李白接过玉杯，喝了一口泉水，只觉得甘甜清冽，沁人心脾，但却无法理解隐士话语的真正含义。隐士笑着说：“你只喝了一口泉水，就能体会到人生的真谛，这只不过是窥见一斑而已。”李白这才恍然大悟，原来人生的道理博大精深，不是一朝一夕就能参透的，他需要继续学习和探索，才能逐步了解人生的真谛。

huì shuō táng cháo shí qī, yǒu gè shūshēng míng jiào lǐ bái, tā cóng xiǎo jiù xǐhuan dúshū, bó lǎn qún shū, duì gè zhǒng zhīshì dōu lüè zhī yī'èr. yǒu yītiān, tā tīng shuō shēn shān lǐ zhù zhe yī wèi yǐnshì, zhè wèi yǐnshì jīngtōng tiānwén dìlǐ, yīshù gāomíng, yúshì lǐ bái biàn qiánwǎng bàifǎng. bá shān shè shuǐ, lì jīng qiānxīnwànkǔ, lǐ bái zhōngyú zhǎodào le yǐnshì de zhùsuǒ, nà shì yī jiān jiǎnlòu de xiǎo mùwū, yǐnshì zhèng zài wū lǐ dǎzuò. lǐ bái shàng qián xiàng yǐnshì qǐngjiào, yǐnshì bìng méiyǒu zhíjiē huídá tā de wèntí, ér shì ná chū yī zhǐ jīngměi de yù bēi, lǐmiàn shèng mǎn le qīngchè de quán shuǐ, duì lǐ bái shuō:“nǐ zhǐ hē yī kǒu zhè quán shuǐ, jiù néng tǐhuì dào rénshēng de zhēndì.” lǐ bái jiē guò yù bēi, hē le yī kǒu quán shuǐ, zhǐ juéde gāntián qīngliè, qìnrén xīnpí, dàn què wúfǎ lǐjiě yǐnshì huàyǔ de zhēnzhèng hànyì. yǐnshì xiàozhe shuō:“nǐ zhǐ hē le yī kǒu quán shuǐ, jiù néng tǐhuì dào rénshēng de zhēndì, zhè zhǐbùguò shì kuī jiàn yī bān éryǐ.” lǐ bái cái cái huǎngrán dàwù, yuánlái rénshēng de dàolǐ bó dà jīngshēn, bùshì yī zhāo yī xī jiù néng cāntòu de, tā xūyào jìxù xuéxí hé tàn suǒ, cáinéng zhúbù liǎojiě rénshēng de zhēndì.

Once upon a time, during the Tang Dynasty, there was a scholar named Li Bai who loved reading since childhood. He had read widely and had a smattering of knowledge in various fields. One day, he heard that a hermit lived deep in the mountains, this hermit had profound knowledge of astronomy, geography, and medicine, so Li Bai went to visit him. After a long and arduous journey, Li Bai finally found the hermit's home, which was a simple wooden hut, and the hermit was meditating inside. Li Bai went forward to seek guidance from the hermit, but the hermit did not directly answer his question. Instead, he took out an exquisite jade cup filled with clear spring water and said to Li Bai, "If you just take a sip of this spring water, you will understand the true meaning of life." Li Bai took the jade cup and took a sip of spring water, only to feel it was sweet, fresh, and refreshing, but he couldn't understand the true meaning of the hermit's words. The hermit smiled and said, "You only took one sip of spring water, and you think you have understood the true meaning of life. That's only a glimpse." Li Bai realized then. The principles of life are vast and profound, and cannot be understood overnight. He needs to continue learning and exploring in order to gradually understand the true meaning of life.

Usage

通常用作谓语，表示只了解事物的一部分，对整体情况并不十分清楚。

tōngcháng yòng zuò wèiyǔ, biǎoshì zhǐ liǎojiě shìwù de yī bùfen, duì zhěngtǐ qíngkuàng bìng bù shífēn qīngchǔ

It is usually used as a predicate to indicate that only a part of the matter is understood, and the overall situation is not very clear.

Examples

• 他只了解事情的一点皮毛，对全局的情况还远没窥见一斑。

  tā zhǐ liǎojiě shìqíng de yī diǎn pí máo, duì quánjú de qíngkuàng hái yuǎn méi kuī jiàn yī bān

  He only understands a little bit about the situation, and he hasn't even seen a glimpse of the whole picture.

• 从他简短的叙述中，我们只能窥见一斑，难以了解事情的来龙去脉。

  cóng tā jiǎnduǎn de xùshù zhōng, wǒmen zhǐ néng kuī jiàn yī bān, nán yǐ liǎojiě shìqíng de lái lóng mài mò

  From his brief description, we can only see a glimpse of it, and it is difficult to understand the ins and outs of the matter..

Related Idioms

• 窥豹一斑

• 略知一二

Opposite Idioms

• 洞察秋毫

• 明察秋毫