Idiom Explanation:
Learning to walk in Handan. It is said that when one fails to imitate others, one forgets what one used to know.
Pronunciation:
邯郸学步
hán dān xué bù
Origin:
《庄子·秋水》：子往呼！且子独不闻夫寿陵余子之学行于邯郸与？未得国能，又失其故行矣，直匍匐而归耳。今子不去，将忘子之故，失子之业。
Story:
According to legend, 2,000 years ago, Yan Shouling place there is a young man, do not know what to call what, let’s call him Shouling boy.
The story goes that this Shouling boy was not worried about food or clothing, and his looks were considered to be medium level, but he just lacked self-confidence and often felt that he was not as good as others in everything for no reason: his clothes were good as others’, his food was fragrant as others’, and his standing and sitting were elegant as others’. He learns what he sees, but learns the same and loses the same, although the pattern is new, but never can do a good job, do not know what he should be like.
Over time, his family could not stand it, so they urged him to change this bad habit, but he thought they were too much in charge. Relatives and neighbors said he was a bear breaking a stick, he also took it as a deaf ear. As time went on, he doubted his own walking posture, and the more he looked at it, the more he felt his walking posture was too stupid, too ugly!
One day, he met some people on the road, laughing and joking, only to hear someone say that the walking posture of the Handan people is a beauty! When he heard that, he got sick to his heart and hurried up to find out what was going on. But when they saw him coming, they laughed and left.
What is the beauty of the walking posture of the Handan people? Naturally, he couldn’t figure it out. So, it became a problem for him again. Finally, one day, he hid from his family and went to the distant Handan to learn how to walk. When he arrived in Handan, he felt new and dazzled everywhere. When he saw children walking, he felt lively and cute, and learned from them; when he saw old people walking, he felt stable and mature, and learned from them; when he saw women walking, he felt swaying and graceful, and learned from them.
In the end, instead of learning how to walk in Handan, he couldn’t even walk in his original position, and he had to crawl back because he had spent all his money.
Similar Idioms:
- 鹦鹉学舌
- 东施效颦
