📖 Meaning
The idiom describes graceful, regulated turning and bending movements, likened to the curves drawn by a compass and the angles set by a carpenter's square. It originally depicted the fluid strokes of clerical-script calligraphy, and later came to characterize rhythmic, well-proportioned motion in dance or other coordinated actions.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from the Han dynasty scholar Cai Yong's essay 'Lishi' (On Clerical Script), where he praised the beauty of clerical calligraphy. He wrote that some strokes slant and angle while others revolve and bend like the movements of a compass and square, with long and short strokes complementing each other so that different forms share the same underlying spirit. In the Ming dynasty, Liu Ji reused the phrase in 'Yulizi' to describe monkeys taught to dance, their movements turning and bending in perfect time with the music.
💡 Example Usage
舞者身姿曼妙，规旋矩折间尽显古韵。
The dancer's posture is graceful, every regulated turn and bend revealing an ancient charm.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 规旋矩折
- Pinyin: guī xuán jǔ shé
- Literal Translation: compass, revolve, square, bend
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4