瞎子摸象

1. • blind people touch an elephant (idiom, from Nirvana sutra 大般涅盘经 dàbānnièpánjīng) fig. unable to see the big picture
2. • to mistake the part for the whole
3. • unable to see the wood for the trees

Character by character

• 瞎(xiā)blind
• 子(zi)noun suffix, as in 椅子 yǐzi "chair"
• 摸(mō)feel with the hand
• 象(xiàng)elephant