食古不化 (shí gǔ bú huà) — to blindly follow ancient teachings without understanding or adapting them; pedantic and impractical

Definition

Idiom: someone has read the classics but can't apply them to real life. Critical of rigid, bookish thinking — the person knows old texts but cannot adapt or solve practical problems.

idiom
to blindly follow ancient teachings without understanding or adapting thempedantic and impractical

Examples

  • ，食古不化，。
    Tā dú shū hěn duō, dàn shí gǔ bú huà, méi fǎ jiě jué shí jì wèn tí.
    He reads a lot, but he's a half-baked pedant and can't solve real problems.
  • 食古不化，。
    Xué xí chuán tǒng bù néng shí gǔ bú huà, yào jié hé shí dài chuàng xīn.
    When studying tradition, you can't blindly copy the ancients — you must innovate with the times.
  • 食古不化，。
    Zhè zhǒng shí gǔ bú huà de zuò fǎ, zhī huì ràng nián qīng rén fǎn gǎn.
    This kind of pedantic approach will only turn young people off.

Origin

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 亼亼jímouth
  • 皀皀jía bowl of rice on a stand

The form behind 食 shows 亼, a mouth, together with 皀, a bowl of rice on a stand. In modern 食, the bowl part has changed shape.

Open 食 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

One reading of 古 sees a shield-like shape above an open mark, showing strength and firmness. Another sees a person spitting out bad-tasting food.

Open 古 →

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

化 shows two person figures, one upright and one upside down, to give the idea of reversal or change.

Open 化 →

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