秀才不出門，全知天下事

秀才不出门，全知天下事
xiùcaibùchūmén,quánzhītiānxiàshì
a learned person need not leave his home to know what's going on in the world (idiom)

CEDICT

Entry Composition

1 秀才 xiùcai
  1. a person who has passed the county level imperial exam (historical)
  2. scholar
  3. skillful writer
  4. fine talent
2 不出 bùchū to not exceed; to not surpass
3 門 mén
  1. gate
  2. door
  3. gateway
  4. doorway
  5. opening
  6. valve
  7. switch
  8. way to do something
  9. knack
  10. family
  11. house
  12. (religious) sect
  13. school (of thought)
  14. class
  15. category
  16. phylum or division (taxonomy)
  17. classifier for large guns
  18. classifier for lessons, subjects, branches of technology
  19. (suffix) -gate (i.e. scandal; derived from Watergate)

classifiers: 扇, 個
4 全知 quánzhī omniscient
5 天下 tiānxià
  1. land under heaven
  2. the whole world
  3. the whole of China
  4. realm
  5. rule
6 事 shì
  1. matter
  2. thing
  3. item
  4. work
  5. affair

classifiers: 件, 樁, 回

Related entries

秀才不出門，能知天下事 xiùcaibùchūmén,néngzhītiānxiàshì a learned person need not leave his home to know what's going on in the world (idiom)