墨守成規
Chinese
| established rules; set rules | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (墨守成規) | 墨守 | 成規 | |
| simp. (墨守成规) | 墨守 | 成规 | |
Etymology
墨守 is from Zhan Guo Ce:
- 今公又以弊聊之民，距全齊之兵，期年不解，是墨翟之守也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5th – 3rd centuries BCE
- Jīn gōng yòu yǐ bì liáo zhī mín, jù quán qí zhī bīng, qī nián bù jiě, shì mòzhái zhī shǒu yě. [Pinyin]
- Now you are able to lead the exhausted people in Liaocheng to fight against all Qi forces for a whole year. (This shows that) your defense is as strong as Mo Zi's.
今公又以弊聊之民，距全齐之兵，期年不解，是墨翟之守也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
The term 墨翟之守 (“Mo Zi's defense”) is from the book Mozi, which was the defense method proposed by him in a war simulation against Lu Ban's ladder specially designed for the state of Chu to be used in its invasion of Song. Mo Zi's defense method proved the ladder to be useless and this made him succeed in discouraging the king of Chu from starting a war. The meaning of 墨守 has changed from commendatory to derogatory over time.
Pronunciation
Idiom
墨守成規
- to rigidly adhere to old rules or traditions without willingness to change
Synonyms
- 墨守陳規／墨守陈规
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.