照貓畫虎

1. • lit. drawing a tiger using a cat as a model (idiom) fig. to follow a model and get things more or less right but without capturing the spirit of the subject
2. • uninspired imitation

Character by character

• 照(zhào)according to
• 貓(māo)cat
• 畫(huà)draw
• 虎(hǔ)tiger