as the shadow follows the form
The Chinese idiom, R ú y ǐ ngsu í x í ng, means that the shadow always follows the body. It means that two things are closely related or two people are closely related and cannot be separated. It comes from Guan Zi Ren FA written by Guan Zhong in the pre Qin period.
The origin of Idioms
"Guanzi · Renfa" says: "however, the matter under the background is also like the response of the voice; the subject of the minister is also like the shadow's obedience to the form." In Shuo yuan · Jun Dao written by Liu Xiang of Han Dynasty, it is said that "the response of heaven to human beings is like the shadow following the shape, and the effect of the sound is the same."
Idiom usage
It can be used as predicate, object, attributive and clause; it has a close relationship with adjective; it can be used as an example; good and evil are obvious. (the seventy first chapter of Jing Hua Yuan by Li Ruzhen in Qing Dynasty)
as the shadow follows the form
One plant at a time, another at a time - dàn zhòng mù chéng
If fortune is not great, misfortune will come again - fú bù chóng zhì,huò bì chóng lái
Do what you know you can't do - zhī qí bù kě ér wéi zhī
a treaty concluded with the enemy who have reached the city wall - chéng xià zhī méng
his hands respond with delicacy to whatever the mind directs - xīn shǒu xiāng yìng
versed neither in polite letters nor in military arts - bù wén bù wǔ