📖 Meaning
To wash away selfish thoughts and cleanse lingering concerns from one's mind. It describes a person thoroughly reforming themselves by clearing out impure intentions, used as a metaphor for complete repentance and starting anew.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the Northern Song dynasty essayist Su Shi (苏轼), in his political essay 《策略二》, where he writes that all under heaven would wash their hearts and cleanse their worries (洗心涤滤) to heed what the court does. A later well-known usage appears in the Ming dynasty writer Feng Menglong's (冯梦龙) story collection 《警世通言》. Over time the phrase became a fixed idiom describing total moral purification and reform.
💡 Example Usage
自此以后，他一心向善，洗心涤虑，再也不做亏心之事。
From then on, he devoted himself to goodness, washing his heart and cleansing his worries, and never again did anything against his conscience.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 洗心涤虑
- Pinyin: xǐ xīn dí lǜ
- Literal Translation: wash, heart, cleanse, worry
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4