8 Chinese Idioms for Apologizing & Making Amends
Appropriate Chinese idioms for saying sorry, admitting mistakes, and making amends with sincerity.
Apologizing in Chinese culture requires more than just saying sorry. These idioms demonstrate genuine remorse, the humility to admit mistakes, and the commitment to make things right.
抛砖引玉
pāo zhuān yǐn yùOffer modest view to inspire better
Literal: Throw brick attract jade
Zhao Gu was the better poet, and Chang Jian wanted a poem out of him. Knowing Zhao Gu would visit the Lingyan Temple, Chang Jian went first and wrote two lines on the wall; Zhao Gu came, saw them, and completed the quatrain. Chang Jian's couplet was much the weaker, which is the point of the anecdot...
Example
She shared her initial idea hoping to inspire better suggestions
她分享了初步想法，希望能激发更好的建议
虚怀若谷
xū huái ruò gǔStay humble and open
Literal: Empty heart like valley
The Daodejing describes the man of old as being, among other things, open as a valley. A chest (怀) held empty (虚) like (若) a valley (谷) takes in whatever comes down into it, and the emptiness is a capacity rather than a lack. Chinese moral vocabulary is consistent about this: the chest is where tole...
Example
The professor welcomed new ideas from his students
教授欢迎学生们提出新的想法
悬梁刺股
xuán liáng cì gǔStudy extremely hard
Literal: Hang beam stab thigh
Two men, two methods. Sun Jing, of the Han, tied his hair to the roof beam (悬梁) so that nodding off would pull him upright. Su Qin, generations earlier, had been sent home from Qin in disgrace after ten memorials went unread, and read through the night with an awl beside him, stabbing (刺) his own th...
Example
She studied late into the night, determined to master the subject
她深夜苦读，决心掌握这门学科
纸上谈兵
zhǐ shàng tán bīngAll theory no practice
Literal: Discuss war on paper
Zhao Kuo had his father's books by heart and could out-argue him on tactics; his father said that war is a matter of life and death and the boy spoke of it far too easily. Qin's agents spread word that the only Zhao general they feared was Zhao Kuo, Zhao replaced the cautious Lian Po with him, and a...
Example
The consultant's theories proved useless when faced with real business challenges
顾问的理论在面对实际商业挑战时证明毫无用处
枕流漱石
zhěn liú shù shíLive as a recluse in the wild
Literal: Pillow stream rinse stone
Sun Chu, meaning to say he would pillow on stones and rinse in the stream (枕石漱流) — the standard image of the recluse — got it out backwards as pillowing on the stream (枕流) and rinsing with stones (漱石). Asked by Wang Ji how a stream could be a pillow or a stone a mouthwash, he answered without pausin...
Example
The researcher lived modestly while dedicating everything to her discoveries
研究员过着简朴的生活，把一切都投入到研究发现中
亡羊补牢
wáng yáng bǔ láoNever too late to fix
Literal: Fix pen after lost sheep
The Strategies of the Warring States gives it to the minister Zhuang Xin, speaking to the King of Chu after part of the kingdom has already been lost: seeing the hare and turning to call the hound is not too late, and mending (补) the pen (牢) after losing (亡) the sheep (羊) is not too late either — 亡羊...
Example
After the security breach, the company finally upgraded their systems
在安全漏洞事件后，公司终于升级了系统
不卑不亢
bù bēi bù kàngMaintain perfect dignified composure
Literal: Neither humble nor proud
Neither (不) cringing (卑) nor (不) overbearing (亢). Both halves name a failure of bearing under a difference in rank, and the phrase describes holding the line exactly between them. That is why it belongs to situations with a power gradient — meeting a superior, negotiating from weakness, representing...
Example
The diplomat maintained perfect dignity when negotiating with the superpower representatives
这位外交官在与超级大国代表谈判时保持着完美的尊严
东施效颦
dōng shī xiào pínFailed imitation lacking understanding
Literal: Dongshi imitates Xishi's frown
The Zhuangzi says that Xi Shi, sick at heart, went frowning through her village, and that a plain woman of the same village saw it and thought it lovely — so she went home and did it too, clutching her breast and frowning as she walked. The rich shut their doors; the poor took their families and lef...
Example
The new restaurant awkwardly copied successful establishments without understanding their appeal
这家新餐厅笨拙地模仿成功的餐厅，却不理解它们的吸引力
Quick Reference
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