世事洞明皆学问

世事洞明皆學問

shìshìdòngmíngjiēxuéwèn

phrase

Meanings

1 seeing through worldly affairs is all scholarship
2 life itself is a form of learning
3 lit. world-matters, seen-through-clearly, all — scholarship

Characters

to see through, penetrate

inquiry — 学问 = scholarship

Examples

客厅挂着对联世事洞明皆学问，人情练达即文章。

Kètīng guà zhe duìlián shì shì dòng míng jiē xuéwèn, rén qíng liàn dá jí wénzhāng.

The living room hangs the couplet: "seeing through worldly affairs is all scholarship; mastery of human feelings is itself fine writing".

他一生阅人无数，可谓世事洞明皆学问。

Tā yīshēng yuè rén wúshù, kěwèi shì shì dòng míng jiē xuéwèn.

Having known countless people in his life, he exemplifies "seeing through worldly affairs is all scholarship".

Tips

history

From 《红楼梦》 (Dream of the Red Chamber) by Cao Xueqin (曹雪芹, Qing dynasty), chapter 5 — a couplet hanging in Ning Guofu's reception hall: 世事洞明皆学问，人情练达即文章 — 'Seeing through worldly affairs is all scholarship; mastery of human feelings is itself fine writing.' Famous as an ironic symbol: it voices a worldly, practical ethic that the novel ultimately treats with ambivalence.

usage

Always quoted together with its second line 人情练达即文章. 洞明 = 'to see through clearly / thoroughly'; 皆 = 'all, entirely'.

Stroke Order

世 shì

事 shì

洞 dòng

明 míng

皆 jiē

学 xué

问 wèn