Chinese idiom · 成语
囫囵吞枣
Meaning
To swallow a date whole; to accept something without understanding it.
Character by character
Origin and story
Literary analogyIn the Biyan Lu (碧巖錄), volume 3, commentary on a Chan exchange contrasts carefully chewing and swallowing with swallowing a jujube whole. The dialogue concerns the monk Zhaozhou’s unexpected reply about the large radishes of Zhenzhou. The fruit image describes receiving words without grasping their significance.
Zhuzi Yulei (朱子語類), volume 124, also uses a variant of the expression in criticizing superficial understanding of texts. These sources establish an analogy about comprehension, rather than a standalone story of a man literally eating dates. A jujube swallowed whole represents learning that has not been examined and digested.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
培训时我囫囵吞枣地记了笔记，真正操作时才发现没弄懂。
I took training notes without really digesting them and only realized my confusion when I tried the task.
Criticizes superficial learning or acceptance without understanding.