墨守成規

Chinese

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

Etymology

墨守 is from Zhan Guo Ce:

今公又以弊聊之民，距全齊之兵，期年不解，是墨翟之守也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

今公又以弊聊之民，距全齐之兵，期年不解，是墨翟之守也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5^th – 3^rd 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 墨翟之守 (“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

Mandarin
(Pinyin): mòshǒuchéngguī

(Zhuyin): ㄇㄛˋ ㄕㄡˇ ㄔㄥˊ ㄍㄨㄟ
Cantonese (Jyutping): mak⁶ sau² sing⁴ kwai¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: mòshǒuchéngguī
  - Zhuyin: ㄇㄛˋ ㄕㄡˇ ㄔㄥˊ ㄍㄨㄟ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: mòshǒuchéngguei
  - Wade–Giles: mo⁴-shou³-chʻêng²-kuei¹
  - Yale: mwò-shǒu-chéng-gwēi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: mohshooucherngguei
  - Palladius: мошоучэнгуй (mošoučɛnguj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mu̯ɔ⁵¹ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵ ku̯eɪ̯⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: mak⁶ sau² sing⁴ kwai¹
  - Yale: mahk sáu sìhng kwāi
  - Cantonese Pinyin: mak⁹ sau² sing⁴ kwai¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: meg⁶ seo² xing⁴ kuei¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɐk̚² sɐu̯³⁵ sɪŋ²¹ kʷʰɐi̯⁵⁵/

Idiom

墨守成規

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

Synonyms

墨守陳規／墨守陈规