📖 Meaning
To shut one's door and sweep away the carriage ruts, symbolizing a complete severance of social contact. It describes someone who deliberately refuses all visitors and withdraws from worldly affairs to live in isolation.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Book of Later Han (后汉书), in the biography of Du Mi within the 'Partisan Prohibitions' (党锢传) chapter. It describes Liu Sheng, a man from the same commandery as Du Mi, who retired from his official post in Shu Commandery and returned to his hometown. There he shut his doors and swept away the wheel tracks in his courtyard, having no dealings with anyone. The Tang commentator Li Xian explained that '轨' means carriage tracks, signifying the complete cutting off of human relations.
💡 Example Usage
他退休后闭门扫轨，不再与昔日同僚来往。
After retirement, he shut his door and cut off all social contact, no longer associating with his former colleagues.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 闭门扫轨
- Pinyin: bì mén sǎo guǐ
- Literal Translation: close door, sweep wheel tracks
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4