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刻舟求劍 — clinging to outdated methods: chengyu story and meaning

刻舟求劍 — To apply a fixed rule to a situation that has already moved on. Used when someone follows the letter of an old method after its conditions have vanished.

Simplified

刻舟求剑

Literal meaning

to mark the boat while seeking a dropped sword

Source

Lüshi Chunqiu (Master Lü's Annals, 3rd century BCE)

When to use it

Said of rigid thinking after change, e.g. enforcing an old office rule after the whole team went remote.

The story

A man crossing a river by ferry dropped his sword overboard. At once he took out a knife and carved a mark on the side of the boat at the exact spot where the sword had slipped in. When the ferry reached the far bank, he lowered himself into the water at the mark and groped for the sword. The boat had moved on; the sword had not. Fellow passengers laughed, and the tale became the classic image of a mind that records the position of things while forgetting that the world drifts.

Example

Characters

• 刻
• 舟
• 求
• 劍

More chengyu stories

• 畫蛇添足 (waak6 se4 tim1 zuk1) — To spoil something good by adding what it does not need. Used when extra touches make a finished job worse, not better.
• 守株待兔 (sau2 zyu1 doi6 tou3) — To hope lightning strikes twice instead of working for what you want. Used for people who copy a one-off lucky break instead of adapting.
• 亡羊補牢 (mong4 joeng4 bou2 lou4) — Losses already taken are a reason to fix the cause, not to give up. Used to encourage action after a failure: repair the hole, then carry on.
• 掩耳盜鈴 (jim2 ji5 dou6 ling4) — To pretend a problem does not exist by blocking out the evidence, in a way that fools nobody but yourself. Used for self-deception that is obvious to everyone else.

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