远近高低各不同

遠近高低各不同
yuǎnjìngāodīgèbùtóng
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 near, far, high, low — each view is different
  2. 2 every perspective yields a different picture

Examples

Héng kàn chéng lǐng cè chéng fēng, yuǎn jìn gāo dī gè bù tóng.
Seen sideways it becomes a ridge, seen end-on a peak — near, far, high, low, each view is different.
Duì tóng yī gè wèntí, yuǎn jìn gāo dī gè bù tóng, měi gè rén dōu yǒu zìjǐ de kànfǎ.
On the same issue, every angle gives a different view — everyone has their own perspective.

Tips

history
From Su Shi's 《西》 (Song dynasty), written on the wall of Xilin Temple on Mount Lu: 看成高低不同真面目。 The poem became a paradigmatic Chinese expression of perspectivism — you can't see the whole mountain when you're on it.
usage
Always cited with 看成 as the full couplet. The poem's last two lines 真面目 are even more famous — the whole quatrain is one continuous argument.

Stroke Order

yuǎn
jìn
gāo
tóng