株守

zhūshǒu

verb

Meanings

1 to stick stubbornly to something
2 to cling rigidly to old ways
3 to never let go of a fixed idea

Characters

tree stump; trunk

to guard; to keep watch

Examples

时代变了，不能再株守旧法。

Shídài biàn le, bùnéng zài zhūshǒu jiùfǎ.

Times have changed; we can no longer cling rigidly to the old methods.

他株守家产，不愿外出闯荡。

Tā zhūshǒu jiāchǎn, bú yuàn wàichū chuǎngdàng.

He clung stubbornly to the family estate, unwilling to venture out into the world.

Tips

history

Comes from the well-known 守株待兔 (shǒu zhū dài tù, “guard the stump waiting for a rabbit”) parable in 《韩非子·五蠹》(Han Feizi, Five Vermin), where a farmer abandons his work to stand by the stump where a rabbit once accidentally killed itself. 株守 distills the moral: stubborn passivity in hopes of repeating dumb luck.

Stroke Order

株 zhū

守 shǒu