Chinese idiom: 刻舟求剑

"Chengyus" are a type of traditional Chinese idioms which consists of four characters. They were commonly used in ancient Chinese literature and are still widely used in spoken Chinese. Though only four characters, Chengyus often have a deep meaning behind them and is interwoven with the moral concepts from classical Chinese mythology. If you're ever looking to get a complex point across quickly, then there's no better way than four characters Chengyu in Chinese!

刻舟求剑 (kè zhōu qiú jiàn)

The Individual Characters in "刻舟求剑"

刻 – to carve
舟 – boat
求 – to ask for, to demand
剑 – sword

The Myth Behind "刻舟求剑"

This chengyu come from a fable by Lv Bu wei. Once there was a man in the Chu state who dropped his sword into the river. He immediately cut a mark on the side of his boat to indicate the place where his sword fell.

When the boat reach to the opposite side of the river, he dive into the water below the mark to look for his sword. However, he can't find the sword as the boat has been moving but the sword hasn't.

The moral of this story shows how an action can become pointless due to a changing circumstances. This chengyu is usually used to describe people who are too conservative and mechanical to adapt flexibly.

The Meaning of "刻舟求剑"

– Using a stupid approach to solve a problem.
– Being stubborn and using the conservative solution which will become useless due to a changing circumstances.

How to use "刻舟求剑" in a sentence

我们要不断地了解情况并研究问题， 而不是刻舟求剑地在那里工作。
We must keep updating the circumstances and do research about the problems, not just working with pointless and useless solutions.
Wǒ men yào bù duàn de liǎo jiě qíng kuàng bìng yán jiū wèn tí, ér bù shì kè zhōu qiú jiàn de zài nà lǐ gōng zuò

来源：China Whisper
编辑：万月英