It means that if you fail to imitate others, you will forget what you originally knew.

Handan toddler

Pinyin: hán dān xué bù.

Source: "Zhuangzi·Qiu Shui" by Zhuangzhou of the Warring States Period: "Is it true that you didn't hear about the learning of the remaining sons of Shouling and practiced it in Handan? You didn't gain the power of the country, and you lost your old practice, so you just prostrate yourself. "Gui Er!"

Interpretation: And have you never heard of the story of the boy from Shouling of Yan State who went to Handan of Zhao State to learn how to walk? Not only did he fail to learn Zhao Guo's skills, but he also lost his original skills, and finally had to crawl back.

Synonyms

东Shixiaoqian

Pinyin: dōng shī xiào pín.

Interpretation: It is a metaphor for imitating others. Not only is the imitation not good, but it also makes one look embarrassed. Sometimes it is also used as a self-effacing statement, indicating that one's foundation is poor and one cannot learn from others' strengths.

Source: "Zhuangzi Tianyun" written by Zhuang Zhou in the Warring States Period: "Xi Shi is sick and frowns on his insides. People see the ugliness inside and find beauty in it. When he returns home, he also praises his heart and frowns on his insides. What's inside is When the rich see it, they stay behind closed doors; when the poor see it, they grab their wives and run away. They know the beauty of their frown, but they don’t know why it is beautiful."

Translation: Xi Shi felt a pain in her heart. I was walking in the neighborhood with a frown on my face. An ugly woman in the neighborhood saw me and thought that my frown was beautiful. After I returned home, I also frowned in the neighborhood, covering my chest. The rich people in the neighborhood saw it and closed their doors tightly and did not come out; the poor people saw it and ran away with their wives and children. That ugly woman only knows that frowning looks good, but she doesn’t know why frowning looks good.