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): ㄊㄨㄛㄊㄞㄏㄨㄢˋ ㄍㄨˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): tyut³ toi¹ wun⁶ gwat¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: tuōtāihuàngǔ
  - Zhuyin: ㄊㄨㄛㄊㄞㄏㄨㄢˋ 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

(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

“脫胎換骨”, in 重編國語辭典修訂本 [Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese), National Academy for Educational Research (Taiwan), 2021.