📖 Meaning
To swallow a date whole without chewing it. It is a metaphor for learning or reading superficially, accepting information without careful analysis or digestion of its meaning.
📜 Origin Story
This phrase originates from the Song dynasty Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi's letter 'Reply to Xu Shunzhi' (答许顺之书). Zhu Xi criticized the habit of casually discussing the unity of fundamentals and details without genuine study, likening it to swallowing a date whole without tasting it. The expression thus came to represent hasty, undigested learning. It is a variant of the more common form 囫囵吞枣.
💡 Example Usage
读书若鹘仑吞枣，终难有所得。
If one reads by swallowing dates whole, one will hardly gain anything in the end.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 鹘仑吞枣
- Pinyin: hú lún tūn zǎo
- Literal Translation: whole, swallow, date
- Category: Learning
- Characters: 4