📖 Meaning
This idiom literally means to expose one's liver and gallbladder. It is a metaphor for treating others with complete sincerity and utter candor, hiding nothing. In classical Chinese culture, the liver and gallbladder symbolize one's innermost heart and courage, so revealing them signifies total openness and loyalty.
📜 Origin Story
No single definitive textual origin is recorded for this idiom. It draws upon a well-established classical Chinese metaphor—rooted in traditional medicine and physiology—where the liver and gallbladder represent the seat of courage, loyalty, and genuine feeling. By the Tang and Song dynasties, numerous poets and essayists used liver-and-gallbladder imagery to convey devotion and frankness, giving rise to a family of closely related idioms including 披肝沥胆 and 肝胆相照. 露胆披肝 emerged as one variant expressing the same idea of baring one's innermost self to another.
💡 Example Usage
他对老友一向露胆披肝，有什么想法从不藏着掖着。
He has always been completely open and sincere with his old friend, never hiding what he truly thinks.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 露胆披肝
- Pinyin: lù dǎn pī gān
- Literal Translation: reveal, gallbladder, expose, liver
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4