📖 Meaning
To restrain one's emotions and curb one's desires through self-discipline. It describes the act of consciously suppressing personal feelings and appetites, often for the sake of moral cultivation or a higher purpose. The idiom emphasizes willpower over indulgence.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom comes from Wang Chong's 'Lunheng' (《论衡·本性》), a philosophical work from the Eastern Han Dynasty. Wang Chong observed that infants cry for food when hungry and reach for attractive things without restraint. He noted that as people grow older, they learn to '禁情割欲' — restrain their emotions and cut off desires — in order to strive toward moral goodness. The idiom thus captures the Confucian ideal of self-cultivation through discipline.
💡 Example Usage
修行者需禁情割欲，方能达到内心的平静。
A practitioner must restrain emotions and curb desires in order to attain inner peace.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 禁情割欲
- Pinyin: jìn qíng gē yù
- Literal Translation: restrain, emotion, sever, desire
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4