CHENGYU
邯郸学步(hán dān xué bù)meaning, story and origin
- Register:
- literary
- Source:
- 《庄子·秋水》
MEANING
- Literal
- to learn the Handan walk
- Figurative meaning
- to imitate others and lose one's own strengths
ORIGIN STORY
A young man went to Handan, famous for its elegant way of walking, to learn their style. He failed to master it and forgot his own way of walking in the process, so he had to crawl home.
NATURAL EQUIVALENT
“to copy others until you forget yourself”
EXAMPLES
学别人可以，但别邯郸学步，丢了自己的优点。Xué biérén kěyǐ, dàn bié hán dān xué bù, diū le zìjǐ de yōudiǎn.HSK6
Learn from others, but do not lose your own strengths in blind imitation.
一味模仿大公司，最后可能邯郸学步。Yíwèi mófǎng dà gōngsī, zuìhòu kěnéng hán dān xué bù.HSK6
Copying big companies blindly may end in forgetting how to walk yourself.
COMMON MISTAKE
Watch out: It warns against imitation that destroys what you already have — not against learning in general.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
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TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01