📖 Meaning
To follow old rules and habitual ways of doing things without change. It describes someone who stubbornly clings to established customs and refuses to adapt. It is synonymous with 蹈常习故.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom appears in the novel《民国通俗演义》(Popular Romance of the Republican Era), co-authored by Cai Dongfan (蔡东藩) and Xu Jinfu (许廑父) during the early Republican period of China. In the 108th chapter, the authors describe a critical moment of life-and-death urgency, warning that one cannot continue following old conventions and hesitate to act when survival is at stake. The phrase reflects the turbulent political climate of China's transition from imperial rule to a republic, where clinging to outdated practices was seen as a danger to the nation.
💡 Example Usage
生死存亡之秋，岂可蹈故习常而不思变革？
In this time of life-and-death crisis, how can we stubbornly follow old conventions without considering reform?
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 蹈故习常
- Pinyin: dǎo gù xí cháng
- Literal Translation: tread, old, practice, usual
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4