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kè 刻 zhōu 舟 qiú 求 jiàn 剑

刻舟求剑 kè zhōu qiú jiàn

to act without regard to changed circumstances; rigid and foolish

Literally: carve boat seek sword

Intermediate 🐉 Animals & fables
🃏 Practise intermediate chengyu

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Origin

From the Lüshi Chunqiu: a man of Chu dropped his sword overboard, notched the side of the boat to mark the spot, and later dived in beneath the notch after the boat had moved on.

How to use it

Predicate or attributive; negative. Often 用老办法解决新问题是刻舟求剑.

Example sentences

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  1. 市场早就变了，还用十年前的办法，这不是刻舟求剑吗？
    Shìchǎng zǎo jiù biàn le, hái yòng shí nián qián de bànfǎ, zhè bù shì kè zhōu qiú jiàn ma?
    The market changed long ago; using ten-year-old methods is like notching the boat to find the sword.
    market long-ago already change (particle), still use ten year ago (particle) method, this not is carve boat seek sword (question-particle)
  2. 做事要看情况，不能刻舟求剑。
    Zuòshì yào kàn qíngkuàng, bù néng kè zhōu qiú jiàn.
    You have to act according to the situation, not cling blindly to old ways.
    do-things must look situation, not can carve boat seek sword

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