Heo-sim-tan-hoe

虛

빌 허

心

마음 심

坦

평탄할 탄

懷

품을 회

Character by character

Meaning

An emptied mind and an open breast — speaking with nothing held back.

Origin

The four characters together are not found in the Chinese classics; the first two are old, and this set phrase settled in Korea and Japan.

How it is used

Used to propose that both sides drop their guard and talk openly.

Hanja虛心坦懷

Simplified虚心坦怀

Korean reading허심탄회

Pinyinxū xīn tǎn huái

Frequently asked questions

Q. What does Heo-sim-tan-hoe mean?

虛心坦懷 · An emptied mind and an open breast — speaking with nothing held back.

Q. Where does Heo-sim-tan-hoe come from?

The four characters together are not found in the Chinese classics; the first two are old, and this set phrase settled in Korea and Japan.

Q. How is Heo-sim-tan-hoe used?

Used to propose that both sides drop their guard and talk openly.

Idioms in the same group

有備無患 Yu-bi-mu-hwanIf you prepare in advance, there is nothing to worry about.易地思之 Yeok-ji-sa-jiThink about it after swapping places with the other person.初志一貫 Cho-ji-il-gwanCarry the resolve you started with all the way through, unchanged.名不虛傳 Myeong-bul-heo-jeonThe reputation was not passed on in vain — it lives up to the name.靑出於藍 Cheong-chul-eo-ramThe blue drawn from the indigo plant is bluer than the plant — the student surpasses the teacher.不撤晝夜 Bul-cheol-ju-yaNeither day nor night set aside — working straight through without pause.

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.