blind imitation with disastrous results
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesidiom
to blindly imitate someone with disastrous results; to make a ludicrous attempt to imitate
literaryFrom the story in Zhuangzi (《庄子•天运》): the ugly woman Dongshi imitated the beauty Xishi's frown, only to look even uglier. Used to criticize mechanical imitation without considering one's own conditions.
Xué学
xí习
bié别
rén人
de的
jīng经
yàn验
yào要
jié结
hé合
zì自
shēn身
shí实
jì际
，
bù不
néng能
dōng东
shī施
xiào效
pín颦
。
When learning from others' experience, one must consider one's own actual conditions and not blindly imitate like Dongshi.
Tā她
mó模
fǎng仿
míng明
xīng星
chuān穿
yī衣
，
jié结
guǒ果
dōng东
shī施
xiào效
pín颦
，
xiǎn显
de得
hěn很
kě可
xiào笑
。
She imitated how celebrities dress, but ended up looking ridiculous like Dongshi imitating a frown.
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Qǐ企
yè业
gǎi改
gé革
yào要
yīn因
dì地
zhì制
yí宜
，
qiè切
jì忌
dōng东
shī施
xiào效
pín颦
。
Enterprise reform must adapt to local conditions; one must absolutely avoid blind imitation like Dongshi.
Rú如
guǒ果
bù不
lǐ理
jiě解
yuán原
lǐ理
jiù就
zhào照
bān搬
dài代
mǎ码
，
zhǐ只
huì会
dōng东
shī施
xiào效
pín颦
，
xiě写
chū出
lòu漏
dòng洞
bǎi百
chū出
de的
chéng程
xù序
。
If you copy code without understanding the principles, you will only produce clumsy imitation like Dongshi, writing programs full of bugs.