傍人篱壁

傍人籬壁

bàngrén-líbì

idiom

Meanings

1 lit. to lean against someone else's fence
2 fig. to depend on others / to imitate slavishly without originality

Characters

to lean against

person / others

Examples

HSK 7-9

做学问要有自己的见解，不能傍人篱壁。

Zuò xuéwen yào yǒu zìjǐ de jiànjiě, bùnéng bàngrén-líbì.

Scholarship requires one's own views. One cannot just lean on others' fences.

HSK 7-9

他的画作虽然技术不错，但傍人篱壁，缺乏个人风格。

Tā de huàzuò suīrán jìshù búcuò, dàn bàngrén-líbì, quēfá gèrén fēnggé.

His paintings are technically good but slavishly imitative, lacking personal style.

Tips

history

From 严羽's Song dynasty 《沧浪诗话》 (Canglang's Notes on Poetry): 是自家闭门凿破此片田地，即非傍人篱壁，拾人涕唾得来者. True poets cultivate their own ground rather than gleaning castoffs from others' fences.

Stroke Order

傍 bàng

人 rén

篱 lí

壁 bì