Chinese idioms：百闻不如一见 (Bǎiwén bùrú yíjiàn)

百闻不如一见 bǎi wén bù rú yī jiàn

Hàncháo de shíhòu, wàizú jīngcháng qīnfàn zhōngyuán. Huángdì xiǎng ràng yí wèi xìng Zhào de lǎo jiāngjūn dàibīng chūzhēng, dàn zhèshí tā yǐjīng qīshí duō suì le, huángdì pài rén qù wèn tā kě bù kě yǐ chūzhēng, Zhào jiāngjūn hěn zìxìn dì huídá:” Wǒ qù zuì héshì le.” Huángdì yòu pài rén qù wèn:” Qǐng jiāngjūn gūjì yí xià dírén de qíngkuàng, tāmen de bīnglì zěnmeyang, gāi pài qù duōshǎo rénmǎ?” Zhào jiāngjūn huí dá:” Bǎi wén bù rú yí jiàn. Duìfāng jūnshì shàng de qíngkuàng rúhé, zài hòufāng hěn nán zhǔnquè de gūjì, háishì ràng wǒ shàng qiánfāng liáojiě zài lái zhìdìng cèluè ba!” Tā yàoqiú huángdì bǎ rènwù jiāo gěi tā, búbì dānyōu. Huángdì jiù xiào zhe dāyìng le. Hòulái tā lǐngbīng yíng zhàn wàizú, dà huò quán shèng.
汉朝的时候，外族经常侵犯中原。皇帝想让一位姓赵的老将军带兵出征，但这时他已经七十多岁了，皇帝派人去问他可不可以出征，赵将军很自信地回答：“我去最合适了。”皇帝又派人去问：“请将军估计一下敌人的情况，他们的兵力怎么样，该派去多少人马？”赵将军回答：“百闻不如一见。对方军事上的情况如何，在后方很难准确地估计，还是让我上前方了解了解再来制定策略吧！”他要求皇帝把任务交给他，不必担忧。皇帝就笑着答应了。后来他领兵迎战外族，大获全胜。
In the Han Dynasty, foreign tribes often attacked the region of Han. The emperor wanted to ask an old general surnamed Zhao to go out to battle. But he was already over seventy. The emperor sent somebody to ask him if he could go on an expedition. With confidence, General Zhao answered, “I’m the best person to do it”. Then the emperor sent another person to ask him, “Please evaluate the situation of the enemy. How are their armed forces, and how many troops should we deploy?” General Zhao answered, “Seeing is believing. It’s difficult to evaluate the enemy’s military situation. So let me formulate a strategy after I go to the frontier.”He requested the emperor to assign the task to him and not to be worried. The emperor agreed with a smile. Later, he led troops to fight against the enemy and gained a complete victory.
词语注释Words
侵犯(qīnfàn) ：to violate (v.)
出征(chūzhēng)： to go into battle(v.)
自信(zìxìn) ： self-confident(adj.)
合适(héshì)： appropriate(adj. )
估计(gūjì)： to estimate( v.)
策略(cèlüè) ：strategy(n. )
大获全胜(dà huò quán shèng)： gain a complete victory

意义
这个成语的意思是听到一百次，也不如亲自去看一次。听说的事情没有自己亲眼看到的那样感受深刻。比喻凡事要调查研究才能下结论。
Meanings
The literal meaning of this phrase is that it’s better to see something once than to hear about it a hundred times. People gain a deeper impression of something by seeing it for themselves rather than just hearing about it. metaphorically, conclusions should be made after survey and research.
例句
Sentences
Bǎi wén bù rú yī jiàn, nǐ qīnzì dào Shànghǎi qù kàn kàn, jiù zhīdào nàlǐ de biànhuà yǒu duō dà !
百闻不如一见，你亲自到上海去看看，就知道那里的变化有多大！
Seeing is believing. If you visit Shanghai to have a look for yourself, you will know what great changes have taken place there.
Xiǎngxiàng zhōng de Xīzàng hé shíjì zhōng de Xīzàng dà bú yīyàng, zhēn shì bǎi wén bù rú yí jiàn ā !
想象中的西藏和实际中的西藏大不一样，真是百闻不如一见啊！
The real Tibet is totally different from what I imagined. Seeing truly is believing!