📖 Meaning
To be gradually influenced or transformed over a long period of time through constant exposure to external factors. It describes how one's character or behavior slowly changes through prolonged contact with one's surroundings. It is equivalent to the idiom 日濡月染.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from a memorial to the throne titled 'Bingzi Lun Dui Zhazi' written by the Song dynasty official Cheng Bi. In the text, Cheng Bi argued that newly recruited soldiers should be stationed separately from regular government troops. He warned that once they mingled, the recruits would be gradually corrupted over time, using the phrase 日渐月染 to describe this slow process of negative influence. He predicted such soldiers would eventually abandon their armor and refuse to fight, turning against their own allies instead of facing the enemy.
💡 Example Usage
在这种环境中日渐月染，他的性格也变得温和了许多。
Gradually shaped by this environment over time, his temperament became much milder.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 日渐月染
- Pinyin: rì jiàn yuè rǎn
- Literal Translation: day, gradually, month, dye
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4