📖 Meaning
Everyone can see it clearly; something is plain and unmistakable to all observers. Used to describe facts or evidence so obvious that they cannot be hidden or denied, often in the context of wrongdoing being exposed.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from Ming dynasty writer Ling Mengchu's (凌濛初) vernacular story collection 初刻拍案惊奇 (First Collection of Stories to Strike the Table), volume 15. In the tale, after a severed human leg is found during a search of a man's home, the accuser warns him that this is clear to all eyes — once the news spreads, he will not be let off easily. The phrase thus came to mean a fact or situation so visible and undeniable that everyone can see it plainly, making concealment or argument futile.
💡 Example Usage
真相众目昭彰，你再狡辩也是徒劳。
The truth is plain for all to see; further quibbling on your part is futile.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 众目昭彰
- Pinyin: zhòng mù zhāo zhāng
- Literal Translation: all eyes, clear and manifest
- Category: Clarity
- Characters: 4