📖 Meaning
To establish one's own household or family independently. In academic or professional contexts, it means founding one's own school of thought or practice without relying on predecessors. In modern usage, it also refers to leaving an organization or group to set up one's own independent operation.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from Chapter 31 of Zeng Pu's Qing dynasty novel 'Nie Hai Hua' (《孽海花》), where a character declares that only by breaking away and establishing independence can one truly follow their own heart. The phrase originally referred to the literal act of setting up a separate family household, a significant milestone in traditional Chinese society. Over time, its meaning broadened to encompass intellectual independence, such as founding a new academic school, and eventually to professional independence, like starting one's own business.
💡 Example Usage
他在公司干了十年后决定自立门户，开了一家设计工作室。
After working at the company for ten years, he decided to strike out on his own and opened a design studio.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 自立门户
- Pinyin: zì lì mén hù
- Literal Translation: self, establish, door, household
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4