见仁见智
- Literal
- to see benevolence, to see wisdom
- Figurative
- That people see the same thing differently and both readings can be legitimate; a matter of where you're standing.
Where does 见仁见智 come from?
The idiom compresses a line from the "Great Commentary" of the 《周易》: "仁者见之谓之仁，知者见之谓之知" (the 知 of the old text is today's 智) — the benevolent man sees benevolence in it; the wise man sees wisdom. The passage was talking about the Way, and its point was that each person finds in it what his own nature allows him to see. Trimmed to four syllables, the idea became an everyday one: faced with the same film, the same law or the same painting, different people see different things. It is often used to close a discussion without declaring a winner, granting that both positions hold up.
Source (出处): 《周易·系辞上》
How is 见仁见智 used? Two examples
- 这部电影好不好看，见仁见智。
Whether this movie is any good is a matter of opinion; everyone sees it differently.
- 这个方案值不值得投钱，大家见仁见智，讨论了一下午。
Opinions were split on whether the plan was worth funding, and they spent the whole afternoon debating it.
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