expression
losing one's own way by blindly imitating others; forgetting one's original skill while trying to copy someone else
A set phrase from a classical Chinese story. Used to warn against abandoning one's own strengths in pursuit of another's style, only to end up with nothing. Rare in modern conversation; mostly found in literary or proverbial contexts.
彼は外国のやり方を真似て、結局邯鄲の歩みになってしまった。
He tried to imitate the foreign method and ended up losing his own way, like the man from Kantan.