傍人篱壁

傍人籬壁
bàngrénlíbì
idiom

Meanings

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

Examples

Zuò xuéwèn yào yǒu zìjǐ de jiànjiě, bùnéng bàngrénlíbì.
Scholarship requires one's own views — one cannot just lean on others' fences.
Tā de huàzuò suīrán jìshù bùcuò, dàn bàngrénlíbì, quēfá gèrén fēnggé.
His paintings are technically good but slavishly imitative, lacking personal style.

Tips

history
From 's Song dynasty 诗话 (Canglang's Notes on Poetry): 自家此片田地傍人篱壁得来 — true poets cultivate their own ground rather than gleaning castoffs from others' fences.

Stroke Order

bàng
rén