改弦更張

Chinese

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Etymology

Originally, a metaphor with string instruments: 改弦 refers to the re-application of tuning, while 更張 means re-stringing the instrument altogether. The latter component has been attested as late as the Book of Han in a passage quoting verbatim from a letter by Dong Zhongshu to the Emperor Wu of Han [104 BCE]. The combined phrase in various forms was already familiar by the Jin era [c. 3rd century], for example, as 改絃易張 in the Records of the Three Kingdoms.

Pronunciation


Idiom

改弦更張

  1. to reform or revamp (a system or policy)

Synonyms

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