remain honest and clean(niè ér bù zǐ)

remain honest and clean

Mud without dross, a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is Ni è é RB ù Z ǐ, meaning to dye but not black, which means to keep clean. It comes from the biographies of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng in historical records.

Idiom explanation

Dye but not black. It means to be clean and free from bad influence. Clay, through "Nirvana". Black. I, through "Zhi". Black.

The origin of Idioms

According to biographies of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng in historical records, "cicadas slough in the mud of zhuonao lake. They do not get the dirt of the world except the floating dust. They also slough in the mud without dross."

Analysis of Idioms

Mud is flat and not dross

Idiom usage

As an attribute; used in figurative sentences

Examples

The mud without dross, the cicada slough, the filthy outside, poetry also. Wang Shizhen's Yiyuan Yiyan in Ming Dynasty

Chinese PinYin : niè ér bù zǐ