gain a superficial understanding through cursory observation(zǒu mǎ kàn huā)

gain a superficial understanding through cursory observation

Chinese idiom, Pinyin is Z ǒ um ǎ K à nhu ā, which means riding on a running horse to see flowers. Originally, it describes things as if they are in a good mood. Later, it refers to a general observation. It's from "after the entrance examination.".

Notes on Idioms

Walking Horse: riding a horse.

The origin of Idioms

Meng Jiao of Tang Dynasty wrote a poem after he was admitted to the imperial examination: "he is proud of his horse's hoof disease and can see all the flowers in Chang'an in one day."

Idiom usage

It has a derogatory meaning.

Examples

A senior high school liberal arts student would rather recite 300 poems carefully than read ten poetry collections. On the path of poetics by Zhu Ziqing

Reading a good article, we must savor it carefully. It's hard to understand the meaning of it by looking at it once.

There were too many people going to the exhibition that day. I just took a quick look at it.

Idiom story

In the middle of Tang Dynasty, there was a famous poet Meng Jiao. He was born in a poor family. He was diligent and studious when he was young. He was very talented. However, his official career has not been smooth, from youth to middle age, several times to participate in the entrance examination have failed. Although he was poor and could not even support his family, he was upright and refused to go to the door of power. He was determined to study hard and open the door of his official career with his real talents. In 797 A.D., Meng Jiao went to Beijing to take part in the Jinshi examination. This time, he won the Jinshi examination. Meng Jiao was very happy. He put on brand-new clothes, put on ribbons and red flowers, and rode on a high horse to enjoy the tour of Chang'an city. He marveled at the beautiful scenery of the capital, and was very proud of the high school entrance examination. So he wrote this famous poem after graduation

In the past, it was too dirty to boast,

Today, there is no limit to unrestrained thinking;

Happy with the horse's hoof disease,

See Chang'an flowers in one day.

In this poem, the poet's joy after becoming a Jinshi is expressed incisively and vividly. Among them, "happy in spring, horseshoe disease, seeing Chang'an flowers in one day" has become a famous sentence through the ages.

Chinese PinYin : zǒu mǎ kàn huā