📖 Meaning
To reform and replace the old with the new; to innovate by discarding outdated practices and establishing new ones. It describes a proactive approach to transformation, emphasizing both the creation of new systems and the abandonment of obsolete ones.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the 'Book of Southern Qi' (《南齐书》), in the 'Biography of Men of Letters: Zu Chongzhi' (《文学传·祖冲之》). Zu Chongzhi (429–500 AD), the renowned mathematician and astronomer of the Southern Qi dynasty, used this phrase in a memorial to Emperor Wu. He was proposing his new Daming Calendar (大明历) to replace the older Yuanjia Calendar, arguing that his system was precise and well-verified, and that reforming the old and establishing the new was both necessary and justified. The phrase captures his spirit of scientific innovation in an era of tradition.
💡 Example Usage
这家企业勇于革新变旧，短短三年便跻身行业前列。
This enterprise boldly reformed the old and embraced the new, rising to the forefront of the industry in just three years.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 革新变旧
- Pinyin: gé xīn biàn jiù
- Literal Translation: reform, new, change, old
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4