Learn Chinese Words: kè zhōu qiú jiàn (刻舟求剑)

Friday, November 10, 2023

刻舟求剑 (kè zhōu qiú jiàn) Carving a boat for a sword is used to describe those who are inflexible and stubborn. Have you ever heard the Chinese story before? Let's learn new idioms together!Meaning

“刻”的意思是雕刻，kè
“kè ”means to carve.

“舟”的意思是船，zhōu
“ zhōu ”means ship.

“求”的意思是寻找，qiú 
“qiú ”means to find.

“剑”的意思是宝剑， jiàn
“ jiàn”means sword.

Story

During the Warring States period, a man from the state of Chu was crossing a river by boat. He put his sword on the boat, but unfortunately, it fell into the water due to the rough waves. The man remained calm and immediately made a mark on the side of the boat, saying to those around him, "This is where my sword fell." After the boat reached its destination, the man jumped into the water based on the mark on the boat, attempting to find his lost sword. After a long search, he still couldn't find his sword.The people watching this scene on the shore thought it was very funny and said, "The boat has been moving all along, but your sword has sunk to the bottom of the water and hasn't moved. How can you possibly find your sword?"

Revelation

The criticism is aimed at a kind of thinking that clings to dogma, adheres to established laws, and is stubborn and inflexible. This story tells us that things in the world are constantly changing, and people's ideas and ways of solving problems should also change accordingly, otherwise they will fail.

In the story of carving a sword on a boat, the Chu people looked at changing things with a static perspective, did not adjust their actions in a timely manner, and therefore led to their failure. This story also points out how people should correctly view problems, which is that they should not view problems in a one-sided, static, and narrow manner, but instead view and solve problems with a dynamic, comprehensive, and flexible perspective.

Sentences

  1. You can't always carve a boat for a sword, you must keep pace with the times.
    你不能总是刻舟求剑，必须与时俱进。
     nǐ bù néng zǒng shì kè zhōu qiú jiàn ， bì xū yǔ shí jù jìn 。
  2. In this era, we are still using the old methods to solve problems, which is simply to carve a boat for a sword.
    在这个时代，还在用老方法解决问题，简直是刻舟求剑。
    zài zhè gè shí dài ， hái zài yòng lǎo fāng fǎ jiě jué wèn tí ， jiǎn zhí shì kè zhōu qiú jiàn 。
  3. Carving a boat for a sword is undoubtedly an old method.
    刻舟求剑无疑是一种陈旧的办法。
    kè zhōu qiú jiàn wú yí shì yī zhǒng chén jiù de bàn fǎ。

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