Q: In Chinese, guiju refers to rules. In fact, these two characters, gui and ju, referred to two tools in ancient times. Do you know what they were? 

漢語中的“規(guī)矩”是啥意思大家伙都知道吧~其實(shí)，“規(guī)”和“矩”這兩個(gè)字分別指代古代的兩種工具。究竟是什么呢？一起來看看吧~

A: Gui was the tool used to draw circles, like today’s compasses (圓規(guī)). Ju was used to draw squares (方形), like the try square (曲尺) today. 

Gui and ju were useful tools. They helped ancient people draw patterns (圖案). Geometry (幾何學(xué)) got better thanks to them. Ju appeared in records about what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem (勾股定理). This theorem was one of the most important findings in Chinese math history. 

規(guī)和矩是十分有用的工具，可以幫助古人作圖，幾何學(xué)的進(jìn)步也得益于它們。因?yàn)楣垂啥ɡ恚?ldquo;矩”被熟知——這個(gè)定理是中國數(shù)學(xué)史上最重要的發(fā)現(xiàn)之一。

Ancient Chinese people created the tools very early. The Records of the Historian (《史記》) said that Dayu, the man who fought the flood (洪水), used gui and ju.

中國古人很早就創(chuàng)造了“規(guī)”和“矩”。《史記》中記載道，大禹治水，用的便是規(guī)和矩。

In the brick carving patterns (磚雕圖案) of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), there are such pictures: the mythological figures (神話人物) Fuxi holds a ju, while Nyuwa holds a gui. 

在漢代(公元前206年-公元220年)的磚雕圖案中，有這樣的畫面:神話人物伏羲手持矩，女媧手持規(guī)。

Ancient people compared (比作) guiju to laws and rules. Later, they used the phrase to refer to rules. 

古人把規(guī)矩比作法律和規(guī)則。后來，他們用這個(gè)短語來指代規(guī)則。