Hwan-gol-tal-tae

換

바꿀 환

骨

뼈 골

奪

빼앗을 탈

胎

아이 밸 태

Character by character

Meaning

New bones, a new womb — a transformation past recognition.

Origin

Originally a Daoist term for becoming an immortal; the Song poet Huang Tingjian used it for reworking older verse into something new.

How it is used

Said of a person who has changed, or writing that has been thoroughly rebuilt.

Hanja換骨奪胎

Simplified换骨夺胎

Korean reading환골탈태

Pinyinhuàn gǔ duó tāi

Frequently asked questions

Q. What does Hwan-gol-tal-tae mean?

換骨奪胎 · New bones, a new womb — a transformation past recognition.

Q. Where does Hwan-gol-tal-tae come from?

Originally a Daoist term for becoming an immortal; the Song poet Huang Tingjian used it for reworking older verse into something new.

Q. How is Hwan-gol-tal-tae used?

Said of a person who has changed, or writing that has been thoroughly rebuilt.

Idioms in the same group

刮目相對 Gwal-mok-sang-daeRub your eyes and look again — someone’s ability has grown astonishingly.敎學相長 Gyo-hak-sang-jangTeaching and learning grow each other.多多益善 Da-da-ik-seonThe more, the better.聞一知十 Mun-il-ji-sipHear one thing and know ten — exceptional quickness of mind.格物致知 Gyeong-mul-chi-jiInvestigate things to reach knowledge.學而時習 Hak-i-si-seupLearn, and practise it in due time.

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.