We’re sharing free Chinese learning content with you. Idioms and proverbs, full of meaning, are explored in this series. Today, we present 「吐故納新」.
In this introduction, we explore the idiom 「吐故納新」. Its definition and ways to use it are shown below.
Originally it refers to the process of people breathing out foul air and inhaling fresh air. It is now mostly used metaphorically to discard the old and bad things and absorb the new and good things.
The Mandarin pronunciation of this idiom is :
tǔ gù nà xīn
while its Cantonese pinyin is :
tou3 gu2/gu3 naap6 san1
Chinese idioms are vast in number, each carrying unique meanings and usages. With such variety, there’s a lot to learn and appreciate. Hopefully, these resources will aid you on your journey to mastering Chinese.
