旁观者清 — Chinese idiom
旁观者清
páng guān zhě qīng
Traditional: 旁觀者清
Meaning
- an outsider can see things more clearly or objectively than those involved
Character by character
- 旁pángside; beside, close, nearby
- 观guānto observe, to spectate; appearance, view
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 清qīngclean, pure; clear, distinct; peaceful
Idioms sharing a character
- 冷眼旁观 lěng yǎn páng guān
- 旁敲侧击 páng qiāo cè jī
- 旁门左道 páng mén zuǒ dào
- 袖手旁观 xiù shǒu páng guān
- 动见观瞻 dòng jiàn guān zhān
- 叹为观止 tàn wéi guān zhǐ
- 坐井观天 zuò jǐng guān tiān
- 坐观成败 zuò guān chéng bài
- 察言观色 chá yán guān sè
- 洞若观火 dòng ruò guān huǒ
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3). Retrieved 2026-10-22.