📖 Meaning
Washing the bone marrow and cutting away the hair — a vivid metaphor for thoroughly purging one's own filth, flaws, or bad habits. The idiom describes a complete, inward renewal of the self, akin to casting off the old body and being reborn. It stresses a radical, wholehearted transformation rather than superficial change.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom first appears in the Ming dynasty (明代) primer Youxue Qionglin (《幼学琼林》), compiled by the scholar Cheng Dengji (程登吉), in its section on the human body (《身体》). There, the allusion "Dongfang Shuo washed his marrow and cut his hair" (东方朔洗髓伐毛) is paired with "Zhang Liang stamped his foot and whispered in the ear" (张良蹑足附耳), recalling two celebrated figures of the Han dynasty. Dongfang Shuo, a witty and eccentric courtier of Emperor Wu of the Western Han dynasty, was said to have undergone a mystical ritual of washing his bone marrow and cutting his hair in order to purify his body and renew his youth. Later writers borrowed the phrase as a metaphor for thoroughly cleansing oneself of defects and being reborn anew.
💡 Example Usage
经历人生低谷后，他决定洗髓伐毛，彻底告别过去的自己。
After hitting rock bottom in life, he resolved to wash away his old self completely and bid farewell to who he once was.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 洗髓伐毛
- Pinyin: xǐ suǐ fá máo
- Literal Translation: wash marrow, cut hair
- Category: Recovery
- Characters: 4