不求甚解

bù qiú shèn jiě

content with a shallow understanding

Character by character

不bù
not

求qiú
seek

甚shèn
deep

解jiě
understanding

读书不能不求甚解，要多思考。

Don't just skim when you read; think it through.

Tone: negative (criticism).

Tao Yuanming used it fondly of reading for pleasure; today it is a criticism.

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This idiom and thousands more are in Learn Chinese with Bao, with audio, pinyin and drills that make them stick.