📖 Meaning
To extensively comb through and collect materials, then carefully sift and pick out the best. It describes a thorough process of gathering widely and selecting meticulously. The idiom emphasizes both the breadth of collection and the rigor of selection.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Tang dynasty scholar Han Yu's essay 'Jin Xue Jie' (进学解, Discourse on Advancing in Learning). In the essay, Han Yu describes how scholars should comb through and gather knowledge, then polish and refine it—comparing the process to selecting talented individuals and refining them through education. The phrase uses the metaphors of combing and gathering (爬罗) to represent wide collection, and sifting and selecting (剔抉) to represent careful refinement.
💡 Example Usage
编辑这部文集时，他对每一篇文章都进行了爬罗剔抉，力求选出最优秀的作品。
When editing this anthology, he carefully sifted through and selected every article, striving to choose only the finest works.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 爬罗剔抉
- Pinyin: pá luó tī jué
- Literal Translation: comb and gather, sift and select
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4