📖 Meaning
To hide and conceal one's virtues and good deeds. It describes a person who cultivates morality internally but does not seek to display or boast of their goodness to others. The idiom praises the humility and quiet integrity of those who do good without seeking recognition.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase does not have a single, well-documented classical source tied to a specific historical anecdote. Its components draw on traditional Confucian values of humility and inner cultivation, where scholars and gentlemen were encouraged to refine their virtue privately rather than flaunt it publicly. The structure echoes similar expressions found in classical literature that counsel keeping one's merits concealed. It belongs to the broader Chinese moral tradition that esteems those who perform good quietly, akin to the ideal of the gentleman who is inwardly sage-like yet outwardly reserved.
💡 Example Usage
他一生潜休隐德，从不炫耀善行，直到离世后事迹才为人所知。
All his life he quietly cultivated and concealed his virtues, never parading his good deeds, and only after his passing did his deeds become known.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 潜休隐德
- Pinyin: qián xiū yǐn dé
- Literal Translation: conceal, virtue, hide, virtue
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4