青出于蓝
- Literal
- the blue comes out of the indigo plant
- Figurative
- The student ends up surpassing the teacher; something new that grows out of its source ends up bettering it.
Where does 青出于蓝 come from?
The phrase comes from the chapter "An Exhortation to Learning" (劝学) by the philosopher Xunzi, from the Warring States period. There he writes: "Blue dye is extracted from the indigo plant, yet it is bluer than the indigo; ice is formed from water, yet it is colder than water." Xunzi used this image drawn from cloth dyeing to argue that steady study lets a person surpass where they began. Over time the line was condensed into the idiom 青出于蓝 and came to refer above all to the student who outdoes the teacher.
Source (出处): 《荀子·劝学》
How is 青出于蓝 used? Two examples
- 他的学生现在比他还有名，真是青出于蓝。
His student is now more famous than he is; the pupil has truly surpassed the teacher.
- 看到女儿的画比自己画得还好，妈妈高兴地说青出于蓝。
Seeing that her daughter painted better than she did, the mother happily said the student had surpassed the teacher.
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