不以规矩，不能成方圆

Traditional: 不以規矩，不能成方圓

bù yǐ guī ju , bù néng chéng fāng yuán

Dictionary entry

without rules, nothing can be done (idiom, from Mencius); one must follow some rules

What does 不以规矩，不能成方圆 mean?

不以规矩，不能成方圆 (bù yǐ guī ju , bù néng chéng fāng yuán) has the following dictionary meaning.

1without rules, nothing can be done (idiom, from Mencius); one must follow some rules

Character breakdown

Open each character to see its own meanings and vocabulary links.

不bùno; not so · (bound form) not; un-以yǐold variant of 以[yi3]规guīvariant of 規|规[gui1]矩jǔvariant of 矩[ju3]能Néngsurname Neng 成Chéngsurname Cheng · short name for Chengdu 成都[Cheng2 du1]方Fāngsurname Fang 圆yuáncircle · round

Reviewed examples

No reviewed example dialogues yet. This page only shows verified dictionary data until a context lesson is published.

How to pronounce 不以规矩，不能成方圆

不以规矩，不能成方圆

bù yǐ guī ju , bù néng chéng fāng yuán

Tap to hear Standard Mandarin.

Base dictionary data: CC-CEDICT · CC BY-SA 4.0.