脫胎換骨

Chinese

		to emerge from the womb; to be born out of; to make bodiless lacquerware	change; exchange	bone
trad. (脫胎換骨)		脫胎	換	骨
simp. (脱胎换骨)		脱胎	换	骨
alternative forms		換骨脫胎／换骨脱胎

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tuōtāihuàngǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄨㄛ ㄊㄞ ㄏㄨㄢˋ ㄍㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): tyut³ toi¹ wun⁶ gwat¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tuōtāihuàngǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄨㄛ ㄊㄞ ㄏㄨㄢˋ ㄍㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tuotaihuàngǔ
    • Wade–Giles: tʻo¹-tʻai¹-huan⁴-ku³
    • Yale: twō-tāi-hwàn-gǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tuotaihuannguu
    • Palladius: тотайхуаньгу (totajxuanʹgu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰu̯ɔ⁵⁵ tʰaɪ̯⁵⁵ xu̯än⁵¹ ku²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: tyut³ toi¹ wun⁶ gwat¹
    • Yale: tyut tōi wuhn gwāt
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tyt⁸ toi¹ wun⁶ gwat⁷
    • Guangdong Romanization: tüd³ toi¹ wun⁶ gued¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰyːt̚³ tʰɔːi̯⁵⁵ wuːn²² kʷɐt̚⁵/

Idiom

脫胎換骨

1. (figurative) to completely reform oneself

   • 常溫養，使脫胎換骨，身在雲端。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     常温养，使脱胎换骨，身在云端。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 宋．葛長庚《沁園春．要做神仙》

     Cháng wēn yǎng, shǐ tuōtāihuàngǔ, shēn zài yúnduān. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 那長老自服了草還丹，真是脫胎換骨，神爽體健。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     那长老自服了草还丹，真是脱胎换骨，神爽体健。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Wu Cheng'en, Journey to the West, 16^th century CE

     Nà chánglǎo zì fú le cǎo hái dān, zhēnshì tuōtāihuàngǔ, shén shuǎng tǐ jiàn. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

• 抽胎換骨／抽胎换骨
• 換骨脫胎／换骨脱胎
• 洗心革面 (xǐxīngémiàn)

References

• “Entry #54668”, in 重編國語辭典修訂本 (in Chinese), National Academy for Educational Research (Taiwan), 2021.