📖 Meaning
To strip away external ornamentation and return to one's original, natural state. It metaphorically describes going back to simplicity and authenticity after complexity, restoring the unadorned essence of things.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from 'Yingjie Guizhen' (Heroes Return to Truth) written by Hong Rengan, a key figure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement in the mid-19th century. In the text, Hong Rengan describes how God and Christ transform people, elevating them from the ordinary to the sacred and returning them to their original, unadorned true nature. The concept draws on Daoist philosophy of the uncarved block (璞), symbolizing raw, natural simplicity before artificial shaping.
💡 Example Usage
经历大半生浮华，他终于选择返璞归真，回到乡间过着简朴的生活。
After half a lifetime of extravagance, he finally chose to return to simplicity and live a plain life in the countryside.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 返璞归真
- Pinyin: fǎn pú guī zhēn
- Literal Translation: return, uncarved stone, return, true
- Category: Philosophy
- Characters: 4