📖 Meaning
To cleanse one's heart and change one's face. A metaphor for undergoing a thorough moral transformation and sincerely repenting past wrongdoings, emerging as a completely renewed person.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom combines phrases from two sections of the ancient classic 'Book of Changes' (Zhou Yi, Zhou Dynasty): 'The sage thereby washes his heart, retreating to hide in secrecy' from the 'Appended Statements' section, and 'The gentleman changes like a leopard; the petty man changes his face' from the 'Ge' (Revolution) hexagram. These ideas were later fused by the Jin Dynasty scholar Ge Hong in his work 'Baopuzi', who wrote that 'one who washes the heart and reforms the face must be like clear waves washing away light dust.' Together, these sources shaped the idiom's meaning of radical inner and outer renewal.
💡 Example Usage
出狱后他洗心革面，重新做人。
After being released from prison, he turned over a new leaf and started life anew.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 洗心革面
- Pinyin: xǐ xīn gé miàn
- Literal Translation: wash, heart, reform, face
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4