改邪归正
gǎi xié guī zhèng · HSK 7
to turn over a new leaf
😈➡️😇 改 change + 邪 evil + 归 return + 正 right = change evil, return to right
Four-character idiom built from a clean parallel: 改邪 (drop the evil) pairs with 归正 (return to the upright path). The 归 (return) hints the person was once on the right path before straying.
改 — 己 (self) + 攴/攵 (action/strike)
改 is a compound of 己 'self' and 攵 (the action radical, originally a hand holding a stick). The image is of striking or applying force to oneself or one's situation, suggesting reform or correction. From this came the modern meaning 'to change, alter, correct'.
邪 — 牙 (tooth/phonetic) + 阝 (right ear, 邑 city radical)
邪 is a phonosemantic compound. The right-side 阝 (from 邑, 'settlement') originally referred to a place name, while 牙 supplied the sound. Over time the place-name use faded and the character was borrowed for the abstract sense 'crooked, evil, heterodox,' which is now its main meaning.
归 — 阜 (mound) + 帚 (broom) + 止 (foot)
Originally depicted a bride being escorted to her husband's home, with 帚 (broom) symbolizing her domestic role and 止 (foot) showing movement. The meaning shifted from 'a woman returning to her marital home' to the broader sense of 'to return' or 'go back'. The 阜 component suggests the journey involved.
正 — one 一 + stop 止
Originally an ideograph showing a foot (止) advancing toward a target line (一), meaning 'to march straight toward' a city or goal. From this came the senses 'upright,' 'correct,' and 'proper.' The military sense survives in 征 (to campaign), which took over the original 'march' meaning.