去粗取精
qù cū qǔ jīng
to discard the dross and keep the essence
Character by character
去qù
remove
remove
粗cū
coarse
coarse
取qǔ
take
take
精jīng
fine
fine
Example
整理民间的老处方时，要去粗取精，不能什么都照着用。
When you sort through old folk prescriptions you have to keep the best and throw out the rest, not use everything as it stands.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
From Mao Zedong’s essay On Practice (实践论, 1937): 去粗取精、去伪存真 (discard the dross and keep the essence, discard the false and keep the true). Said of sifting material, data or a tradition; often 对…去粗取精.
Learn this in Lesson 158 · HSK 7–9: 青蒿素 (Artemisinin: from an old recipe to a Nobel Prize)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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