刻舟求剑
kè zhōu qiú jiàn
to act as if nothing has changed
Character by character
刻kè
carve
carve
舟zhōu
the boat
the boat
求qiú
seek
seek
剑jiàn
the sword
the sword
Example
市场早就变了，还用十年前的办法，那是刻舟求剑。
The market changed long ago; using the methods of ten years ago is marking the boat to find the sword.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
A man dropped his sword in the river, notched the gunwale where it fell, and dived in at the notch when the boat reached shore.
Learn this in Lesson 207 · HSK 9+: 寓言与名句 (Fables and famous lines)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. This lesson is free.
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