死灰复燃
sǐ huī fù rán
(of something bad) to flare up again after dying down
Character by character
死sǐ
dead
dead
灰huī
ashes
ashes
复fù
again
again
燃rán
burn
burn
Example
经过整治，街头的小广告少了一阵子，最近又死灰复燃了。
After the clean-up the street flyers died down for a while, but lately they have sprung up again.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
From 《史记·韩长孺列传》: jailed and insulted by the jailer Tian Jia, Han Anguo asked 死灰独不复然乎, “can dead ashes not burn again?” (然 = 燃); Tian Jia said he would put them out by urinating on them (然即溺之). Han was soon back in high office. Now nearly always of bad things returning: crime, a disease, an old habit.
Learn this in Lesson 163 · HSK 7–9: 戒不掉的瘾 (The habits we cannot break)
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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