Chinese idiom · 成语
清规戒律
Meaning
Pure rules, strict precepts; rigid discipline.
Character by character
Origin and story
Religious expressionThe expression joins rules of religious community life with disciplinary precepts. Its basic setting is monastic observance, including regulations followed by Buddhist clergy and, in broader usage, Daoist practitioners. The consulted dictionary documents the complete phrase in the vernacular Tale of Ji Gong: a complaint to an abbot calls for the unconventional monk to be punished under the monastery's rules.
That fictional scene illustrates an existing disciplinary vocabulary rather than establishing its first creation. Outside religion, the expression came to describe restrictive regulations or conventions, often with an impatient or critical tone. Such figurative criticism should not be mistaken for a neutral account of every religious rule.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
这间工作室没有那么多清规戒律，大家可以自由安排创作时间。
This studio doesn't have so many restrictive rules; everyone can arrange their creative work freely.
Religious literally; often critical of excessive restrictions figuratively.