📖 Meaning
Refers to the true appearance or real face of something. It comes from the idea that Mount Lu's true form is hard to discern from up close. It is used metaphorically to describe the original or true nature of a matter.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from a line in the Qing dynasty scholar Duan Xueting's 'Preface to Posthumous Manuscripts,' where he lamented that editors who acted clever or wished to save printing costs caused the true form of the original texts to gradually be lost. The phrase draws on the famous imagery of Mount Lu in Jiangxi Province, whose real appearance is difficult to make out when one is standing on the mountain itself, a notion popularized by Song dynasty poet Su Shi's celebrated verses. Over time, '庐山面目' came to signify the true essence or original appearance of things.
💡 Example Usage
经过深入调查，这起事件的庐山面目终于大白于天下。
After thorough investigation, the true picture of this incident was finally brought to light.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 庐山面目
- Pinyin: lú shān miàn mù
- Literal Translation: Mount Lu, face, appearance
- Category: Clarity
- Characters: 4