Eyes are the windows to one’s soul. Seeing is not always believing. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There are many English sayings related to eyes and eyesight – a reflection of the importance that we place on our eyesight and our hesitance at times to trust our vision. (Think of the connotations that the word “eyewitness” conjures.)
In Chinese a similar sort of thinking about eyes and eyesight exist. While acknowledging that eyes are the most accurate and perceptive of our senses, many Chinese idioms also acknowledge the susceptibility of eyes to sensual misleading.
死不瞑目 (si3bu4ming2mu4: die unjustly; “refuse to close eyes in death”) and 目迷五色 (mu4mi2wu3she4: confused and dazed by sensual overload) are examples of such opposed idioms in Chinese relating to eyes and eyesight. For more idioms related to eyesight, click [here].
目, the Chinese 部首 which indicates “eye” or “eyes”, can be found in many characters having to do with vision, eyesight. The following is just a short list:
• 渺 (miao3) – Water+eyes+the character for few (少)= water in the distance, vast expanse.
• 省 (shen3)- I don’t see much (少), so I’d better be more thrifty with what I do have.
• 眨 (zha1)-I appear to be lacking (乏) an eye…I must be blinking.
• 盲 (mang2)-My eyes are dead (亡)…I must be blind.
• 眉 (mei2)–What’s that above my eye? Oh right, my eyebrow.
• 眄 (mian4)–Part of your eye is covered up (丏)? You must being looking at me out of your peripheral vision.
Of course, there are also characters in which the 目 indicates something to do with the eye, and the other parts of the character indicate pronunciation:
• 盯 (ding1) – stare, pay utmost attention to.
• 瞬 (shun4) – eye movement, blink
You may also want to see 畫龍點睛.