To swallow a date [fruit] in one gulp
To accept information with insufficient analysis or consideration
Negative
读这份材料要细嚼慢咽, 不能囫囵吞枣 | Dú zhè fèn cáiliào yào xìjiáomànyàn, bù néng húlúntūnzăo
These materials you must read slowly and carefully. You must not gloss over them without properly digesting them
[Source]
理解肤浅是因为看书时囫囵吞枣，所以我们要认真读书，反复思考 | Lǐjiě fūqiǎn shì yīnwèi kànshū shí húlúntūnzǎo, suǒyǐ wǒmen yào rènzhēn dúshū, fǎnfù sīkǎo
A shallow understanding comes from reading these books without properly digesting their contents. We must earnestly study and reflect often
[Source]
Accept without thinking
Accept blindly
None
None
《湛渊静语》(Zhàn Yuān Jìng Yǔ), a work by the poet and calligrapher 白挺 (Bái Tíng, 1248 - ?)
In ancient times, there was a doctor who enjoyed telling people about different ways of eating fruit. Once, when he was explaining the benefits of pears and date fruits to a crowd of students, he said, "Eating pears is good for your teeth, but it's bad for your spleen. Conversely, eating dates is good for your spleen, but it's bad for your teeth."
A student who thought himself clever exclaimed, "I know! When you eat a pear, you can chew it without swallowing. That way, it's good for your teeth, but it never hurts your stomach. Then, when you have a date, you just don't chew it with your teeth. Instead, you just gulp it down in one bite. That way, your spleen will benefit, but your teeth won't be harmed!"
Unfortunately for him, no one else thought this was a clever idea. The other students laughed uproariously at the thought of their classmate eating dates whole. On top of that, the doctor countered, "If you don't swallow pears, then they're never digested, so how could that be good for your teeth? And if you don't chew dates, then how will your stomach digest them? How could that be good for your spleen?"