📖 Meaning
Literally 'repeating the compass and inheriting the square,' this idiom describes things that conform to the same rules and standards, matching perfectly with one another. It also carries the metaphorical sense of following or repeating established patterns without innovation.
📜 Origin Story
This phrase originates from the Han dynasty text 'Qianfu Lun' (Discourses of a Hidden Gentleman) by the scholar Wang Fu, specifically the chapter 'Si Xian' (On Seeking Worthy Officials). Wang Fu observed that across vast distances of time and space—separated by a hundred generations and a thousand miles of differing customs—the signs of a state's decline and failure always follow the same pattern, as if tracing the same compass and square, matching like joined tally sticks. The idiom thus captures how historical failures repeat with uncanny regularity.
💡 Example Usage
两份方案重规袭矩，思路几乎完全相同。
The two proposals follow the same established patterns, with nearly identical approaches.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 重规袭矩
- Pinyin: chóng guī xí jǔ
- Literal Translation: repeated, compass, inherited, square
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4