束缚

• Pinyin: shù fù
• Hanzi breakdown: 束 = 木 + 口 (wood + a binding wrap — to bind; a bundle); 缚 = 糹 + 尃 (thread/silk + to spread — to tie up; to bind)

Meaning

To bind; to constrain; to restrict. Also used as a noun: constraints, fetters, bonds.

Both literal (physical binding) and figurative (social, institutional, or psychological constraints). Very common in discussions of freedom, tradition, social norms, and creative expression. 摆脱束缚 (to break free from constraints) is a common collocation.

Examples

1. 传统礼教长期束缚女性的言行、婚姻与职业选择，五四运动对此发起了批判。 For a long time, traditional moral codes constrained women’s speech and behavior, marriage, and career choices, and the May Fourth Movement launched a critique of this.
2. 创业者普遍反映，繁琐的行政审批程序是制约小微企业快速成长的重要束缚，优化营商环境的核心在于将政府职能从事前管控向事后监督转型。 Entrepreneurs commonly report that cumbersome administrative approval procedures are a major constraint on the rapid growth of small and micro businesses; improving the business environment hinges on shifting government functions from upfront control to after-the-fact oversight.
3. 心理学研究表明，过度的自我批评会形成一种内在的认知束缚，使个体在面临挑战时倾向于回避而非面对，从而形成恶性的习得性无助循环。 Psychological research shows that excessive self-criticism can create an internal cognitive constraint, leading people to avoid challenges rather than face them and forming a vicious cycle of learned helplessness.

Usage Guide

Context: social commentary, politics, psychology, philosophy, business

Tone: critical

Do Say

• 摆脱路径依赖的束缚，需要组织在利益格局固化前主动自我颠覆。(Breaking free from the constraints of path dependence requires organizations to proactively disrupt themselves before the interest structure hardens.)
• 量子纠缠打破了经典物理对局域性的束缚，促使科学界重新思考信息与时空关系。(Quantum entanglement broke classical physics' constraint on locality, prompting scientists to rethink the relationship between information and spacetime.)

Don't Say

• 束缚 when describing light restrictions or mild limitations — 束缚 implies strong, often oppressive constraints on freedom; for lighter restrictions use 限制 (to limit) or 约束 (to restrain); applying 束缚 to everyday rules or mild inconveniences will sound overly dramatic

Origin & History

束 (to bind; a bundle — 木 wood + 口 a binding wrap) + 缚 (to tie up; to bind with rope — 糹 silk/thread + 尃 to spread)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal