<p>The meaning you've provided may also be written as <strong>走馬觀花</strong>, and looks like a recent meaning of the phrase, popularised in the late Qing dynasty. The earlier meaning of <strong>走馬看花</strong> meant <em>to be in a very satisfied and pleasant/enjoyable mood</em>, and is derived from a poem by the Tang Dynasty <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meng_Jiao" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Meng Jiao</a>. Quote:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>《登科後》</strong></p>
  
  <p>昔日齷齪不足夸，今朝放蕩思無涯。</p>
  
  <p>春風得意<strong>馬蹄疾</strong>，一日<strong>看</strong>盡長安<strong>花</strong>。</p>
</blockquote>

<p><em>Bolded parts where the 成語 comes from: <strong>swift galloping of hooves</strong>, <strong>see</strong>, <strong>flower</em></strong></p>

<p>The poet talks about not wanting to bring up his past impoverished circumstances, referencing his failure to pass the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Imperial Examinations</a> twice. Finally, on his third attempt he succeeded, was overjoyed, and rode a horse which swiftly galloped to the Tang Capital <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27an" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Chang'an</a>, where the poet wanted to see all of Chang'an's flowers in a single day. Later literature which uses <strong>走馬看花</strong> in this sense as an expression include:</p>

<ul>
<li>宋 楊萬里 《葉叔羽集同年九人於櫻桃園》詩： “<strong>走馬看花</strong>才幾日， 曉星殘月半無人。”</li>
<li>明 于謙 《喜雨行》： “但願風調雨順民安業， 我亦<strong>走馬看花</strong>歸帝京。”</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-15T20:51:21.083Z
2018-06-15T21:07:42.977Z
2018-06-15T21:07:42.977Z
dROOOze
<p>So, I came across this chengyu and my understanding is that it means something like "to take a cursory look at something" or, to quote my dictionary, "粗略地观察事物". Now, I understand this and I see where it's coming from, but the book I found it in is about Tiziano Terzani, an Italian journalist/writer who lived in China for a long time and uses it to refer to himself and his travel experience. I have read a lot of his work and he's anything but superficial. So I was wondering if the chengyu has another meaning/can be interpreted in a different way? A little research on the internet got me nowhere. 
Many thanks!</p>

<chengyu>
Meaning of 走马看花
# Meaning of 走马看花

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-06-15)

So, I came across this chengyu and my understanding is that it means something like "to take a cursory look at something" or, to quote my dictionary, "粗略地观察事物". Now, I understand this and I see where it's coming from, but the book I found it in is about Tiziano Terzani, an Italian journalist/writer who lived in China for a long time and uses it to refer to himself and his travel experience. I have read a lot of his work and he's anything but superficial. So I was wondering if the chengyu has another meaning/can be interpreted in a different way? A little research on the internet got me nowhere.
Many thanks!

**Tags:** chengyu


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-06-15. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

The meaning you've provided may also be written as **走馬觀花**, and looks like a recent meaning of the phrase, popularised in the late Qing dynasty. The earlier meaning of **走馬看花** meant *to be in a very satisfied and pleasant/enjoyable mood*, and is derived from a poem by the Tang Dynasty [Meng Jiao](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meng_Jiao). Quote:

> **《登科後》**
>
> 昔日齷齪不足夸，今朝放蕩思無涯。
>
> 春風得意**馬蹄疾**，一日**看**盡長安**花**。

*Bolded parts where the 成語 comes from: **swift galloping of hooves**, **see**, **flower***

The poet talks about not wanting to bring up his past impoverished circumstances, referencing his failure to pass the [Imperial Examinations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination) twice. Finally, on his third attempt he succeeded, was overjoyed, and rode a horse which swiftly galloped to the Tang Capital [Chang'an](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27an), where the poet wanted to see all of Chang'an's flowers in a single day. Later literature which uses **走馬看花** in this sense as an expression include:

* 宋 楊萬里 《葉叔羽集同年九人於櫻桃園》詩： “**走馬看花**才幾日， 曉星殘月半無人。”
* 明 于謙 《喜雨行》： “但願風調雨順民安業， 我亦**走馬看花**歸帝京。”


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