📖 Meaning
A metaphor for acting blindly without investigation or research. It likens reckless, uninformed action to a blind person groping for fish in water, doomed to failure. The idiom criticizes a work style that is crude, superficial, and satisfied with half-knowledge.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from Mao Zedong's 1941 speech "Reform Our Study" (改造我们的学习), delivered during the Yan'an Rectification Movement. In the speech, Mao criticized certain Party members for their poor work style, listing "a blind man catching fish" alongside "closing one's eyes to catch sparrows" as examples of working blindly without investigation. He condemned such practices as crude, boastful, and satisfied with half-knowledge, calling them a complete violation of the fundamental spirit of Marxism-Leninism. The metaphor draws on the absurd image of a blind person trying to catch fish by groping in water, illustrating the futility of acting without proper understanding or research. The idiom has since become a common criticism of blind, uninformed action in Chinese discourse.
💡 Example Usage
没有调查就做决定，无异于瞎子摸鱼，难免出错。
Making decisions without investigation is like a blind man groping for fish—mistakes are inevitable.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 瞎子摸鱼
- Pinyin: xiā zi mō yú
- Literal Translation: blind person, grope, fish
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4