họa hổ họa bì nan họa cốt, tri nhơn tri diện bất tri tâm
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Skin and stripes paint easily, bones don't; faces are known easily, hearts not — the inside of tiger and man alike resists the brush.
Examples
Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)
Sources & notes
Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.
Common questions
What does “họa hổ họa bì nan họa cốt, tri nhơn tri diện bất tri tâm” mean?
Skin and stripes paint easily, bones don't; faces are known easily, hearts not — the inside of tiger and man alike resists the brush. Literally: painting tiger: skin easy, bone hard; knowing man: face easy, heart hard
Is “họa hổ họa bì nan họa cốt, tri nhơn tri diện bất tri tâm” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.