What's the difference between these two Chinese idioms?
蚁穴坏堤 (ant hole breaks dike) warns about small flaws causing big failures, while 盲人摸象 warns about partial information causing wrong conclusions. Small neglect vs limited perspective.
yǐ xué huài dī
“Small problems cause disaster”
Literally: Ant holes break dike
The Han Feizi observes that a dyke a thousand zhang long is breached through the burrow of ants and crickets. An ant's (蚁) hole (穴) ruins (坏) the dyke (堤) not by being large but by being ignored while it is small, and the passage is advice to rulers about attending to minor faults early. The saying ...
Example: A minor oversight in the code led to a critical system failure
Chinese: 代码中的一个小疏忽导致了系统的重大故障
máng rén mō xiàng
“Mistaking partial knowledge for complete wisdom”
Literally: Blind person touches elephant
A king had blind (盲) men (人) brought to feel (摸) an elephant (象) and say what it was: the one who got the tusk said a radish, the ear a winnowing basket, the leg a pillar, the tail a rope — and none of them was inventing anything. The parable comes into Chinese with the Buddhist canon. Its sharpness...
Example: Each department understood only their aspect of the problem, missing the complete picture
Chinese: 每个部门只了解问题的一个方面，错过了完整的图景
| Aspect | 蚁穴坏堤 | 盲人摸象 |
|---|---|---|
| Pinyin | yǐ xué huài dī | máng rén mō xiàng |
| Literal Meaning | Ant holes break dike | Blind person touches elephant |
| Used For | Small problems cause disaster | Mistaking partial knowledge for complete wisdom |
| Theme | Life Philosophy | Wisdom & Learning |
| Example | A minor oversight in the code led to a critical system failure | Each department understood only their aspect of the problem, missing the complete picture |
蚁穴坏堤 (ant hole breaks dike) warns about small flaws causing big failures, while 盲人摸象 warns about partial information causing wrong conclusions. Small neglect vs limited perspective.
蚁穴坏堤 literally means "Ant holes break dike" and is used to describe "Small problems cause disaster." The Han Feizi observes that a dyke a thousand zhang long is breached through the burrow of ants and crickets. An ant's (蚁) hole (穴) ruins (坏) the dyke (堤) not by being large but by being ignored while
盲人摸象 literally means "Blind person touches elephant" and is used to describe "Mistaking partial knowledge for complete wisdom." A king had blind (盲) men (人) brought to feel (摸) an elephant (象) and say what it was: the one who got the tusk said a radish, the ear a winnowing basket, the leg a pillar, the tail a rope — and none o
Use 蚁穴坏堤 when you want to emphasize "Small problems cause disaster." Use 盲人摸象 when you want to emphasize "Mistaking partial knowledge for complete wisdom." 蚁穴坏堤 (ant hole breaks dike) warns about small flaws causing big failures, while 盲人摸象 warns about partial information causing wrong conclusions. Small neglect vs limited perspective.