📖 Meaning
This idiom literally means to break one's brain and cut open one's heart. It is a metaphor for exhausting all of one's loyalty and devotion in service of a ruler or cause. It describes someone willing to sacrifice everything out of sheer dedication.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom does not have a single well-documented classical origin story. It is closely related to the expression 剖心沥血 (to cut open one's heart and shed blood), both evoking the image of offering up one's innermost self as the ultimate proof of loyalty. Such vividly visceral imagery was common in classical Chinese political culture, where ministers and officials would metaphorically offer their lives and minds to demonstrate unwavering fealty to their sovereign.
💡 Example Usage
老臣破脑刳心，只愿陛下江山永固。
This old minister would break his brain and cut open his heart, wishing only that Your Majesty's reign endure forever.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 破脑刳心
- Pinyin: pò nǎo kū xīn
- Literal Translation: break, brain, cut open, heart
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4