万变不离其宗

萬變不離其宗

wànbiànbùlíqízōng

idiom #90,356

Meanings

1 however many changes, the essence remains
2 no matter how it varies, the core stays the same
3 the more things change, the more they stay the same

Characters

to leave, depart from

Examples

题目再多，万变不离其宗，考的都是基础。

Tímù zài duō, wànbiànbùlíqízōng, kǎo de dōu shì jīchǔ.

No matter how many questions there are, they all test the same fundamentals.

营销手段万变不离其宗——打动用户。

Yíngxiāo shǒuduàn wànbiànbùlíqízōng — dǎdòng yònghù.

Marketing tactics all come back to the same thing: moving the customer.

Tips

history

Builds on 《荀子·儒效》: 千举万变，其道一也 ('a thousand actions, ten thousand changes — but the Way is one'), and 《庄子·天下》: 不离于宗，谓之天人.

usage

Often used to cut through complexity: the speaker is claiming expertise by saying 'strip away the surface, the core principle doesn't change'.

Stroke Order

万 wàn

变 biàn

不 bù

离 lí

其 qí

宗 zōng