刻舟求剑

刻舟求劍

kèzhōu-qiújiàn

idiom HSK 7

Meanings

1 to stubbornly cling to outdated methods
2 to fail to adapt to changed circumstances

Characters

Literally 'carve the boat to find the sword' — from a fable where a man drops his sword in a river and marks the boat's side, then dives in when the boat reaches shore, expecting to find the sword at the mark.

Examples

时代变了，不能刻舟求剑。

Shídài biàn le, bùnéng kèzhōu-qiújiàn.

Times have changed, you can't cling to outdated methods.

用老办法解决新问题，简直是刻舟求剑。

Yòng lǎo bànfǎ jiějué xīn wèntí, jiǎnzhí shì kèzhōu-qiújiàn.

Using old methods to solve new problems is like marking the boat to find the sword.

Tips

history

This idiom comes from Lü Buwei's《吕氏春秋》(3rd century BC). A man from Chu dropped his sword overboard, marked the spot on the boat, then tried to retrieve it from the mark after the boat had moved on. It's taught to every Chinese schoolchild.

Stroke Order

刻 kè

舟 zhōu

求 qiú

剑 jiàn