諺語 · a single proverb
返璞歸真
Simplified: 返璞归真
What does 返璞歸真 (fǎn pú guī zhēn) mean?
返璞歸真 (fǎn pú guī zhēn) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語). Word for word it reads "return to the uncarved block, go back to the genuine." In use it means: Strip away artifice and return to your natural, authentic self; simplicity is the destination, not the starting point. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Wood note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Goat.
Literally: "return to the uncarved block, go back to the genuine."
The reading
The sculptor begins with a block and carves. The sage begins with a carving and returns to the block. Both are making something, but the sage's direction is backward, toward the original, toward the thing that existed before anyone started adding opinions to it. The truest version of you is the one underneath all the modifications.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Tao Te Ching 道德經; Zhuangzi 莊子 (the uncarved block pu 朴)
Sits beside
上善若水
shàng shàn ruò shuǐ
The finest virtue is like water, which benefits all things and flows to the low places without contending.
大道至簡
dà dào zhì jiǎn
The deepest truths are plain.
天下之至柔，馳騁天下之至堅
tiān xià zhī zhì róu chí chěng tiān xià zhī zhì jiān
The most yielding force in the world overcomes the most unyielding.
Keep reading
Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in The Way of Water, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Goat, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.
Questions
Is 返璞歸真 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 返璞歸真 (fǎn pú guī zhēn) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語), and it comes from Tao Te Ching 道德經; Zhuangzi 莊子 (the uncarved block pu 朴). It is living Chinese heritage, given here with per-character pinyin and its source so you can trust the line, not a phrase invented in English.
How do you pronounce 返璞歸真?
In Mandarin it is fǎn pú guī zhēn. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 返璞歸真 aloud in Mandarin.