A Winged Steed 按图索骥

The Chinese idiom 按图索骥 literally means looking for a steed according to a picture. It comes from a story about a well-known horse expert, Bo Le (伯乐), and his son.

Bo Le lived during the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC). He was an expert at judging the quality of horses and it was said that he could spot a "winged steed" (an outstanding animal that could run all day) from a thousand galloping horses. Bo Le was widely respected by his peers and also the duke of the State of Qin wher he lived. So great was this respect, that his name was (and still is today) frequently used to praise persons who have a good eye for recognising anyone who has an unusual talent in a specific field (e.g. a young singer or scientist).

Bo Le had a son. Unlike his father, the son had no outstanding qualities and knew nothing about horses. In fact, most people (including his father) thought he was really stupid and a good-for-nothing bludger. As a result, the duke of the State of Qin was concerned that when Bo Le died his know-how would be lost to the people forever. He persuaded Bo Le to write a book documenting his knowledge of horse-breeding. Bo Le toiled for many months on his book. The book (titled Xiang Ma Jing 《相马经》) describes in detail how to recognize which horses could be tamed into winged steeds. In particular, he wrote that a good steed has a wide forehead, bulging eyes and round hoofs. The book also contained a picture depicting the strong brow and deep set eyes of such a steed.

Even though Bo Le's son was stupid and lazy, he still had a desire to do something worthwhile with his life. He wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and become a master horse breeder himself. He read a few chapters of his father's book, but upon discovering the picture depicting the strong brow and deep-set eyes characteristic of the famed winged steed he decided not to read further. Instead, he copied the picture from the book and decided to go out and capture a winged steed. He figured that doing this would prove to his father that he was not stupid and worhtless after all.

After wandering around for a whole day, he failed to find a single horse with a face that matched the picture. However, on the way home he spotted a big toad sitting by the roadside. Upon inspection, he found that the toad had a strong brow and deep-set eyes like the picture. He was thrilled to bits by his discovery and raced home to tell his father that he had found a winged steed.

Bo Le did not know whether to laugh or to cry. He said:

My son, I cannot fault your endeavour. However, what you've done is to focus on the form rather than the substance. The so-called winged steed you have found can only hop around, it cannot run and you will never be able to ride it.

From this story we can see why today the idiom is used to describe those who work mechanically try to do something without really understanding what they are trying to achieve. In effect, by focusing too much on the form of the task, they completely miss the point of the whole exercise.

I have not been able to think of a matching English idiom. If you can think of one, please let me know.