Chinese sayings: 43 (習焉不察 / 习焉不察)

習焉不察 / 习焉不察

xí yān bù chá

"get-used-to it not detect"

This is a phrase from Mencius 孟子, about not detecting problems in something when one's got so used to it, i.e., can't see the flaws due to familiarity.

    An example has just popped up as I'm writing this:  smells.  It can be a good / nice smell, but it's normally a bad one that some people immediately notice and crinkle up their noses at, but those close to the source of the smell don't notice it at all as they've got so accustomed to it.  

    A chap working in an office space right at the top of the four-storey building where I worked in the early 80s had such strong body odour that even when he'd gone out of sight, his B.O. would linger for hours on the stairs — people who'd not seen him walk up the stairs would know he'd come in.  Yet, he had spawned five children.  (I'll leave you to make the connection.)

    In my case, it was with a girl in my class when I was 11.  Let's call her Wang Mei Ling.  One day, someone noticed that Wang Mei Ling was absent.  Someone asked me, "Wang Mei Ling?  Is that the girl with the glasses?"  I couldn't answer that question — my mind was a total blank as to the minor details.  Spectacles? Fringe? Long or short hair?  No idea.  (I'm the same with age as well.)

    As I now keep saying to people, "I only see the soul, I don't see the shell."

The original Mencius text that contained this phrase:

「習焉不察」出自《孟子·盡心上》。該段原文為：「行之而不著焉，習矣而不察焉，終身由之而不知其道者，眾也。」。這句話的意思是，很多人習慣了某種事物，反而沒有仔細去覺察其中的問題。

“习焉不察”出自《孟子·尽心上》。该段原文为：“行之而不着焉，习矣而不察焉，终身由之而不知其道者，众也。”。这句话的意思是，很多人习惯了某种事物，反而没有仔细去觉察其中的问题。

(google translate) The phrase "习焉不察" (xí yān bù chá) comes from Mencius, Book 7, Part 1. The original text reads: "They do things without realizing it, they become accustomed to them without examining them, and they follow them throughout their lives without understanding their true nature—this is the way of the masses." This means that many people become so accustomed to something that they fail to carefully observe the problems within it.

(AI says) Mencius lived from approximately 371 to 289 BC, though some sources suggest alternative dates such as 385 to 303 BC.  He was a Chinese philosopher during the late Zhou dynasty who is considered the second most important sage in Confucianism, after Confucius. 

(AI says) The Zhou Dynasty [周朝 Zhōu cháo] lasted from approximately 1046 BC to 256 BC, and is divided into the Western Zhou (1046–771 BC) and Eastern Zhou (771–256 BC) periods.  The Eastern Zhou is further divided into the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.