由表及里
yóu​biǎo​jí​lǐ

to see the essence

  • created sense approved 由表及里/由表及裡 · yóu​biǎo​jí​lǐ · to see the essence — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    由表及里 / 由表及裡

    yóu​biǎo​jí​lǐ

    to see the essence

    to proceed from the outside to the inside, meaning to look past superficial appearances to understand the true nature or essence of something

    由 (literal) → 由 · yóu · from 表 (literal) → 表 · biǎo · surface 及 (literal) → 及 · jí · to reach 里 (literal) → 里/裡 · lǐ · inside

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense