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刻舟求剑 (kè zhōu qiú jiàn) — to be rigidly inflexible in the face of changing circumstances; to cling to outdated methods

Definition

A chengyu from an ancient story: a man notched his boat to mark where his sword fell overboard, not realizing the boat had moved. Used to mock someone who stubbornly sticks to an old method while conditions have changed.

phrase
to be rigidly inflexible in the face of changing circumstancesto cling to outdated methods

Examples

  • ，刻舟求剑，。
    Zài xiàn dài shè huì, wǒ men zuò jué cè shí bù néng kè zhōu qiú jiàn, yào dǒng de suí jī yìng biàn.
    In modern society, when making decisions we cannot act like the man who carved his boat; we must know how to adapt.
  • ，，刻舟求剑？
    Shì chǎng huán jìng yǐ jīng biàn le, nǐ hái yòng sān nián qián de cè lüè, zhè bú shì kè zhōu qiú jiàn ma?
    The market environment has changed; if you're still using a three-year-old strategy, isn't that like carving a notch on the boat?
  • ，刻舟求剑，。
    Zhè ge gōng sī zhī suǒ yǐ shī bài, jiù shì yīn wèi guǎn lǐ zhě kè zhōu qiú jiàn, bú yuàn gǎi biàn.
    The reason this company failed is that its managers were too rigid, unwilling to change.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
刂Written in full as刀dāo
Sound part声符shēngfú
亥
亥hài刻kè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

刻 is made of 刂, a form of 刀 (knife), and 亥, which gives the sound.

Open 刻 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

舟 was originally a drawing of a boat.

Open 舟 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

求 began as a drawing of a centipede.

Open 求 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 劍; 剑 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
刂Written in full as刀dāo
Sound part声符shēngfú
僉
僉qiān劍jiàn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 劍 pairs 僉 as the sound part with 刂, a knife sign written as 刀, as the meaning part; the simplified 剑 is a later shorthand.

Open 剑 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Idioms & Set Phrases

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