To follow the manual so literally that you miss the real thing
The gap between those first two lines is the whole point of a chengyu. It is quoted whole, never assembled, and the literal reading is a picture from the story below rather than a definition — which is why translating the four characters one at a time rarely gets you there.
How our dictionary glosses it
Rigid approach (locate something with a clue) — full dictionary entry.
Bo Le, the great judge of horses, wrote down the marks of a thoroughbred. His son took the book out looking, matched the description of a high forehead and bulging eyes to a toad, and brought it home in triumph. Bo Le said the animal did indeed jump well, but was rather hard to ride.
Source: 《艺林伐山》Ming-dynasty retelling of a Han anecdote
The reading shown is the one each character takes inside this idiom — chengyu keep older readings, so it is not always the everyday one. The meanings are read from the same dictionary that powers the translators.
Want the stroke order for one of these? Each character links to its dictionary entry, which animates it.
按图索骥 is pronounced àn tú suǒ jì and means to follow the manual so literally that you miss the real thing. Literally it says "seek the fine horse by the drawing" — like most chengyu, the literal reading is a picture from a story rather than a definition.
《艺林伐山》Ming-dynasty retelling of a Han anecdote. Bo Le, the great judge of horses, wrote down the marks of a thoroughbred. His son took the book out looking, matched the description of a high forehead and bulging eyes to a toad, and brought it home in triumph. Bo Le said the animal did indeed jump well, but was rather hard to ride.
àn tú suǒ jì. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice. Tones here are citation tones, so 一 is written yī even where it is said yí in running speech.
按 (àn) According to (push - press - restrain), 图 (tú) Diagram (picture - drawing - chart - plan), 索 (suǒ) Rope (chain - search - request). These meanings come from the same dictionary as the translators on this site, and the reading shown is the one the character takes inside this idiom.
Yes. Chengyu are not archaic — they are ordinary educated speech, and they turn up in conversation, newspapers and exams. This one sits in the advanced band, which reflects how common it is and how hard its characters are.
Rebuild 按图索骥 from scrambled tiles in the Chengyu Story Puzzle, test yourself on idiom meanings in the Chengyu Quiz, browse all the idioms, or save this one above and review it on your review deck.
Every idiom here comes with the story it was compressed from — that is the rule for being listed, and it is why they stick.
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