📖 Meaning
A metaphor for painstakingly polishing and refining one's writing. It describes a writer who puts extreme effort into crafting and perfecting every word. The phrase is equivalent to the variant 雕肝琢肾.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from a postscript (跋) written by the Qing dynasty scholar Xu Yinfang (许印芳). In it, he remarks that even if a writer carves the liver and engraves the kidney—exerting the utmost painstaking effort—the result may still end up vague and ungrounded. The expression uses the vivid image of cutting into one's own internal organs to convey the depth of labor devoted to literary craftsmanship.
💡 Example Usage
这篇古文他反复修改数月，可谓雕肝镂肾，终成佳作。
He revised this classical essay over several months; one might call it a liver-carving, kidney-engraving labor, and it finally became a fine work.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 雕肝镂肾
- Pinyin: diāo gān lòu shèn
- Literal Translation: carve liver, engrave kidney
- Category: Skill
- Characters: 4