📖 Meaning
This idiom describes holding sectarian or factional prejudice. It refers to the tendency to revere the school of thought one has adopted as master, while despising the one left behind as a slave. It criticizes scholars who cannot approach different doctrines with an open mind.
📜 Origin Story
Tang dynasty scholar Han Yu wrote in his essay "Original Dao" (原道) that intellectuals who discussed morality and righteousness inevitably aligned with one of several competing schools—Yangism, Mohism, Daoism, or Buddhism. He observed that upon entering one school, a person would treat it as their master (主), and upon leaving another, would dismiss it as a slave (奴). This reflected the sectarian bias prevalent among scholars of different philosophical traditions. The phrase was later condensed into the idiom 出奴入主 to describe factional prejudice.
💡 Example Usage
做学问当博采众长，切忌出奴入主，偏执一端。
In scholarship one should draw upon the strengths of all schools, avoiding sectarian bias and stubborn adherence to a single viewpoint.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 出奴入主
- Pinyin: chū nú rù zhǔ
- Literal Translation: exit, slave, enter, master
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4