📖 Meaning
To know everything; there is nothing one does not understand or is unacquainted with. It describes someone of vast knowledge who is versed in all matters, from high culture to everyday trivia.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from Act One of "Dongpo Dream" (《东坡梦》), a Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) zaju play by Wu Changling. In the play, a character praises an exceedingly clever woman, saying she is fluent in the speech of all Three Religions and Nine Schools of thought (三教九流) — nothing eludes her understanding. The phrase '无所不通，无所不晓' thus entered the language as a set expression for omniscience, combining the parallel construction typical of classical Chinese rhetoric.
💡 Example Usage
这位老先生博闻强识，天文地理无所不晓。
This learned old gentleman is erudite and sharp-witted; there is nothing about astronomy or geography he does not know.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 无所不晓
- Pinyin: wú suǒ bù xiǎo
- Literal Translation: not, that which, not, know
- Category: Knowledge
- Characters: 4