CHENGYU
按图索骥(àn tú suǒ jì)meaning, story and origin
- Register:
- literary
- Source:
- 《汉书·梅福传》
MEANING
- Literal
- to seek a fine horse by the picture
- Figurative meaning
- to search by following clues; (negatively) to follow a formula rigidly
ORIGIN STORY
Following a book of horse pictures, Bole's son went out and caught a toad that matched a drawing in the manual. The tale jokes about rigid book-following — though today the phrase also means searching methodically by the map.
NATURAL EQUIVALENT
“to follow the blueprint”
EXAMPLES
警察按图索骥，很快找到了犯罪嫌疑人。Jǐngchá àn tú suǒ jì, hěn kuài zhǎo dào le fànzuì xiányírén.HSK6
The police searched by the clues and soon found the suspect.
按图索骥能找到景区，却找不到真正的美食。Àn tú suǒ jì néng zhǎo dào jǐngqū, què zhǎo bù dào zhēnzhèng de měishí.HSK6
Following the map finds the sights, but never the truly good food.
COMMON MISTAKE
Watch out: Both senses exist: methodical searching (positive) and rigid rule-following (negative).
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
按ànaccording to
图túpicture; map
索suǒto seek
骥jìfine horse
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TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01