Idiom Explanation:
Refers to not being limited to one specification or way.
Pronunciation:
不拘一格
bù jū yī gé
Origin:
清·龚自珍《己亥杂诗》：“我劝天公重抖擞，不拘一格降人才。”
Story:
Gong Zizhen was a thinker and writer of the Qing Dynasty who was born in 1792 in Renhe, Zhejiang Province (in present-day Hangzhou) to a feudal bureaucratic family. At the age of 14, he was able to write poems, and at the age of 18, he was able to write lyrics, and at the age of 20, he became a famous poet of his time. He wrote poems with rich imagination and magnificent and colorful language in a Romantic style. In his poems, he exposed the darkness and corruption of the Qing Dynasty rule, advocated reform, supported the anti-smoking faction, opposed foreign invasion, opposed the compromise of the rulers, and was full of patriotic enthusiasm.
Gong Zizhen won the imperial examination at the age of 27 and the scholarship at the age of 38, and served as an official in the Qing government for about 20 years. In 1839, at the age of 48, he resigned and returned to his hometown. During his journey to his hometown, he looked at the great rivers and mountains of his country and saw the people living in hardship, so he could not help but feel emotionally touched by the scenery and his thoughts, and wrote one poem after another impromptu.
One day, Gong Zizhen passed by Zhenjiang, only to see the streets crowded with people, lively, an inquiry, the original local gods in the race. People were carrying the Jade Emperor, the God of Wind, the God of Thunder and other heavenly deities in devout worship. At this time, someone recognized Gong Zizhen. Hearing that the contemporary literary figure was also here, a Taoist priest immediately crowded forward and implored Gong Zizhen to write an article of worship for the gods. With a single stroke, Gong wrote the poem “Miscellaneous Poems on the Year of the Hexi”, which consists of four lines.
九州生气恃风雷，万马齐喑究可哀。
我劝天公重抖擞，不拘一格降人才。
In the poem, Kyushu is a synonym for the whole China. The meaning of the poem is that China needs to be energized by the thundering wind and social changes, but now people are afraid to speak up, and it is sadly dull. I would like to advise the God of Heaven to revive, not to stick to the routine, and bring useful talents to earth. Later on, the idiom of “not to stick to one pattern to bring down talents” was refined into “not to stick to one pattern”, which is used as a metaphor for not sticking to one specification or method. In addition, the poem also derives the idiom of “All horses are mute”, which is a metaphor for the dreary situation in the air.
