大彻大悟
dà chè dà wù
to see through everything; complete enlightenment
Character by character
大dà
great
great
彻chè
thorough
thorough
大dà
great
great
悟wù
awaken
awaken
Example
那场大病以后，他好像大彻大悟了，再也不为小事生气。
After that serious illness he seemed to have seen through it all, and he never got angry over little things again.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
Buddhist in origin, for full enlightenment. In daily speech it is a deep change of outlook after a crisis, sometimes said with irony. 恍然大悟 is a sudden “oh, I see” about one particular thing; 大彻大悟 is about life as a whole.
Learn this in Lesson 98 · HSK 6–7: 王阳明与知行合一 (Wang Yangming: knowing is doing)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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