Bal-bon-saeg-won

拔

뺄 발

本

근본 본

塞

막을 색

源

근원 원

Character by character

Meaning

Pull the root, block the spring — removing a problem at its source.

Origin

From the Zuo Commentary, ninth year of Duke Zhao, where it read closer to a warning that a tree dies once its root is pulled.

How it is used

Used of dealing with the cause rather than tidying the surface.

Hanja拔本塞源

Simplified拔本塞源

Korean reading발본색원

Pinyinbá běn sè yuán

Frequently asked questions

Q. What does Bal-bon-saeg-won mean?

拔本塞源 · Pull the root, block the spring — removing a problem at its source.

Q. Where does Bal-bon-saeg-won come from?

From the Zuo Commentary, ninth year of Duke Zhao, where it read closer to a warning that a tree dies once its root is pulled.

Q. How is Bal-bon-saeg-won used?

Used of dealing with the cause rather than tidying the surface.

Idioms in the same group

四面楚歌 Sa-myeon-cho-gaChu songs on all four sides — surrounded with nowhere to turn.進退兩難 Jin-toe-yang-nanHard to advance and hard to retreat.累卵之危 Nu-ran-ji-wiAs precarious as a stack of eggs.風前燈火 Pung-jeon-deung-hwaA lamp flame before the wind — an extremely precarious state.五里霧中 O-ri-mu-jungInside a fog five li deep — completely unable to make sense of things.雪上加霜 Seol-sang-ga-sangFrost on top of snow — one misfortune stacked on another.

The idioms used in Korea mix phrases from the Chinese classics with ones coined in Korea. Where an expression is not used in China, the entry says so.