如法炮制

如法炮製

rúfǎ-páozhì

idiom #39,909

Meanings

1 to follow the same method
2 to do it by the same recipe
3 to copy an existing approach

Characters

to roast/process (medicinal herbs)

to prepare; to make

Examples

HSK 4

第一家店成功了，他又在别的城市如法炮制。

Dìyī jiā diàn chénggōng le, tā yòu zài biéde chéngshì rúfǎpáozhì.

After the first store succeeded, he replicated the formula in other cities.

HSK 4

他看到别人这样赚钱，也想如法炮制。

Tā kàndào biérén zhèyàng zhuànqián, yě xiǎng rúfǎpáozhì.

Seeing others make money that way, he wanted to follow the same recipe.

HSK 6

骗子如法炮制，接连骗了好几个老人。

Piànzi rúfǎpáozhì, jiēlián piàn le hǎojǐ gè lǎorén.

The scammer used the same playbook and cheated several elderly victims in a row.

Tips

history

From the Qing novel 《镜花缘》 by Li Ruzhen: "即如法炮制，果然把阵破了" - they carried out the method and indeed broke the formation. 炮制 is the traditional Chinese-medicine term for processing herbs by roasting - hence "follow the recipe as prescribed."

mistakes

炮 here reads páo, not pào. It refers to medicinal roasting/processing, not cannons. A very common mistake among native speakers too.

Stroke Order

如 rú

法 fǎ

炮 pào

制 zhì