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照葫蘆畫瓢

简照葫芦画瓢 · 繁照葫蘆畫瓢

Mandarin · pinyin zhào hú lu huà piáo

lit. to draw a dipper with a gourd as a model (idiom)
fig. to copy slavishly

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Characters in this entry

照: zhào · shine, illumine, reflect
葫: hú · bottle-gourd
蘆: Look up this written character
畫: huà · delineate, painting, picture, drawing; draw
瓢: piáo · ladle made from dried gourd
芦: lú · rushes, reeds
画: huà · a painting, picture, drawing; to draw

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–2–5–4–2 · zhao4 hu2 lu5 hua4 piao2

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

照葫蘆畫瓢 · find source passages ↗ · 照葫芦画瓢 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ziu3 wu4 lou4 waak6 piu4

Cantonese word readings for 照葫蘆畫瓢. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to copy or imitate slavishly without attempt at originality

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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