Băi wén bù rú yī jiàn - Believe your own eyes

Do not believe everything that people tell you... or what you hear on television or what you read in the papers. If you want to find out the true matter of things, it is better to trust our own eyes and use your own judgment. This is the conclusion reached by the Chinese during the Han Dynasty.

The period of the Western Han Dynasty was marred by continuous battles at the border of the country, on the Qiang tribe territory. Officials of the state were often the target of attacks and the Han-king Xuandi, tired of the situation, wanted to send his troops to take care of the unruly troublemakers. The king called on his old and trustworthy war chief Zhao Chongguo to draw up a war strategy.

It was in front of his king that Zhao Chongguo came up with his immortal saying “Seeing once is better than hearing for a hundred times.” Băi wén bù rú yī jiàn. Băi is the numeral for “hundred,” wén means “to hear.” Bù rú means “to be worse than.” Yī jiàn, “to see once.”

Zhao thought that it would be worth while to first send out a scout to look into the situation, since there were no reliable facts available - only hearsay and secondhand information. The king agreed and Zhao Chongguo set off on his journey. He was an experienced war leader who wanted to assess the situation himself before taking any action. On his return, he laid out a sensible and effective plan, which enabled the Han troops to prepare well for the confrontation. And, as is customary for these legends, the Qiang tribe was overpowered in no time at all.

Zhao Chongguo's wise words have left their mark on posterior generations and he is often quoted. The message behind his words is that if one has the possibility to find out about things for oneself and make judgements based on one's own knowledge, one should never rely on another person's words or secondhand information.

Translation: Stina Björkell