一叶障目 yī yè zhàng mù

In use

To let one small thing block your view of everything

Literally

one leaf before the eye

Pinyin

yī yè zhàng mù

The gap between those first two lines is the whole point of a chengyu. It is quoted whole, never assembled, and the literal reading is a picture from the story below rather than a definition — which is why translating the four characters one at a time rarely gets you there.

A man read that the leaf a mantis hides behind confers invisibility, and stripped a tree collecting candidates. He held each one up and asked his wife whether she could still see him, until — worn out — she said no. He walked into the market and helped himself to goods in front of the owner, and was arrested on the spot.

Source: 《笑林》Xiaolin, 3rd century AD

The reading shown is the one each character takes inside this idiom — chengyu keep older readings, so it is not always the everyday one. The meanings are read from the same dictionary that powers the translators.

Want the stroke order for one of these? Each character links to its dictionary entry, which animates it.

These share a character with 一叶障目 or come from the same classical source, so the characters you have just learned pay off straight away.

What does 一叶障目 mean?

一叶障目 is pronounced yī yè zhàng mù and means to let one small thing block your view of everything. Literally it says "one leaf before the eye" — like most chengyu, the literal reading is a picture from a story rather than a definition.

Where does 一叶障目 come from?

《笑林》Xiaolin, 3rd century AD. A man read that the leaf a mantis hides behind confers invisibility, and stripped a tree collecting candidates. He held each one up and asked his wife whether she could still see him, until — worn out — she said no. He walked into the market and helped himself to goods in front of the owner, and was arrested on the spot.

How do you pronounce 一叶障目?

yī yè zhàng mù. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice. Tones here are citation tones, so 一 is written yī even where it is said yí in running speech.

What do the characters in 一叶障目 mean?

一 (yī) One (single), 叶 (yè) Leaf (leaf-like - page), 障 (zhàng) Block (hinder - obstacle - obstruct - barrier), 目 (mù) Eye (item - stare - look - catalogue). These meanings come from the same dictionary as the translators on this site, and the reading shown is the one the character takes inside this idiom.

Is 一叶障目 still used today?

Yes. Chengyu are not archaic — they are ordinary educated speech, and they turn up in conversation, newspapers and exams. This one sits in the advanced band, which reflects how common it is and how hard its characters are.