邯郸匍匐 — “To blindly imitate others”

Q: What is the Chinese definition of 邯郸匍匐?

比喻盲目效仿以致失去自己原来的长处。

邯郸匍匐 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to blindly imitate others”. Only to lose one's own original skills and make a fool of oneself. Literally, “Crawl in Handan”.

Frequency

邯郸匍匐 Pronunciation and Pinyin

邯郸匍匐 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
邯	hán	7	Handan, a place name
郸	dān	10	Handan, ancient Chinese city
匍	pú	9	crawl or creep
匐	fú	11	to crawl or prostrate oneself

Example Sentence with 邯郸匍匐

小明在学习画画时，如果只是一味地模仿名家的风格，而没有自己的创新，最终可能会落得邯郸匍匐的下场。

When Xiao Ming learned painting, if he only blindly imitated the styles of famous artists without developing his own creativity, he might end up like the person who crawled in Handan.

Origin and Story of 邯郸匍匐

During the Warring States period, the people of Handan, the capital of the State of Zhao, walked with exceptionally graceful and elegant strides, which were widely admired and envied by people from other regions.

A young man from Shouling in the State of Yan was particularly fascinated by the Handan people's walking posture. He traveled specifically to Handan to learn their way of walking. He observed, imitated, and practiced diligently. However, after a period of time, he not only failed to learn their elegant gait but also forgot how he used to walk. In the end, he was so clumsy that he could only crawl forward.