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改邪歸正

简改邪归正 · 繁改邪歸正

Mandarin · pinyin gǎi xié guī zhèng

to mend one's ways (idiom)
to turn over a new leaf

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Characters in this entry

改: gǎi · change, alter; improve, remodel
邪: xié · wrong, evil, depraved, vicious, perverse, heterodox
歸: Look up this written character
正: zhèng · right, proper, correct
归: guī · return; return to, revert to

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–2–1–4 · gai3 xie2 gui1 zheng4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

改邪歸正 · find source passages ↗ · 改邪归正 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

goi2 ce4 gwai1 zeng3

Cantonese word readings for 改邪歸正. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to reform; to rehabilitate; to turn over a new leaf; to stop committing evil acts and stay on the straight and narrow

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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