洁身自好 (jié shēn zì hào) — to keep oneself morally pure and uncorrupted (by avoiding bad influences); to mind one's own business and stay out of trouble (sometimes implying selfish aloofness)

Definition

A chengyu with two opposite tones: a positive 'keep oneself pure, avoid corruption' and a negative 'mind one's own business, stay aloof' (sometimes selfish). Context decides which sense is meant.

idiom
to keep oneself morally pure and uncorrupted (by avoiding bad influences)to mind one's own business and stay out of trouble (sometimes implying selfish aloofness)

Examples

  • 洁身自好，。
    Tā yì shēng jié shēn zì hào, cóng bù yǔ tān guān tóng liú hé wū.
    He kept himself pure all his life and never wallowed in the mire with corrupt officials.
  • ，洁身自好，。
    Gōng sī chū le wèn tí, tā què jié shēn zì hào, bú yuàn chā shǒu bāng máng.
    When the company ran into trouble, he just minded his own business and refused to help.
  • ，洁身自好。
    Zài fù zá de huán jìng zhōng, jié shēn zì hào shì yì zhǒng nán dé de pǐn zhì.
    In a complicated environment, keeping oneself pure is a rare quality.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 潔; 洁 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
絜
絜jié潔jié
Same sound today

The traditional form 潔 pairs 氵, a water part, with 絜, which gives the sound; the simplified 洁 is a later abbreviation.

Open 洁 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.

Open 身 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 自 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

好 joins 女 (woman) and 子 (child), understood as a woman with a child, linked to goodness or affection.

Open 好 →

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