📖 Meaning
To substitute ears for eyes, meaning to rely on hearsay instead of personally investigating or observing. It criticizes those who form judgments based solely on what others tell them rather than seeking firsthand evidence. The phrase highlights the danger of accepting secondhand information without verification.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio' (聊斋志异) by the Qing Dynasty writer Pu Songling, in the story 'Si Wen Lang' (司文郎). In the tale, a blind monk possesses the extraordinary ability to evaluate the quality of literary essays by smelling the ashes of burned manuscripts. When a scholar named Wang comes seeking the monk's literary judgment, the monk laughs and asks who has been spreading gossip, rhetorically questioning how one can discuss literature without eyesight. Wang then requests to 'use ears in place of eyes,' asking the monk to assess his writings through listening rather than seeing, giving rise to this enduring phrase.
💡 Example Usage
做学问不能以耳代目，必须亲自调查研究才能得出可靠的结论。
In scholarship one cannot substitute ears for eyes; one must personally investigate and research to reach reliable conclusions.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 以耳代目
- Pinyin: yǐ ěr dài mù
- Literal Translation: use, ear, replace, eye
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4