墨守成規

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Chinese

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established rules; set rules
trad. (墨守成規) 墨守 成規
simp. (墨守成规) 墨守 成规

Etymology

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墨守 is from Zhan Guo Ce:

墨翟 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
墨翟 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5th – 3rd centuries BCE
Jīn gōng yòu yǐ bì liáo zhī mín, jù quán qí zhī bīng, qī nián bù jiě, shì mòzhái zhī shǒu yě. [Pinyin]
Now you are able to lead the exhausted people in Liaocheng to fight against all Qi forces for a whole year. (This shows that) your defense is as strong as Mo Zi's.

The term 墨翟 (“Mo Zi's defense”) is from the book Mozi, which was the defense method proposed by him in a war simulation against Lu Ban's ladder specially designed for the state of Chu to be used in its invasion of Song. Mo Zi's defense method proved the ladder to be useless and this made him succeed in discouraging the king of Chu from starting a war. The meaning of 墨守 has changed from commendatory to derogatory over time.

Pronunciation

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Idiom

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墨守成規

  1. to rigidly adhere to old rules or traditions without willingness to change

Synonyms

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