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取其精华，去其糟粕

qǔ qí jīng huá , qù qí zāo pòdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
take the cream, discard the dross (political and educational slogan) / keep what is good, discard the rest / You need to be selective when studying. / In modernizing the country, don't accept uncritically all foreign ideas.
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-0c200fb910f66708. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

取其精華，去其糟粕 取其精华，去其糟粕 [qu3 qi2 jing1 hua2 , qu4 qi2 zao1 po4] /take the cream, discard the dross (political and educational slogan)/keep what is good, discard the rest/You need to be selective when studying./In modernizing the country, don't accept uncritically all foreign ideas./

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 取其精華，去其糟粕

  • 取
    qǔ

    to take / to get / to choose / to fetch

  • 其
    qí

    his / her / its / their / that / such / it (refers to sth preceding it)

  • 精
    jīng

    essence / extract / vitality / energy / semen / sperm / mythical goblin spirit / highly perfected / elite / the pick of sth / proficient (refined ability) / extremely (fine) / selected rice (archaic)

  • 华
    huā

    flower

    huá

    magnificent / splendid / flowery

    Huá

    abbr. for China

    Huà

    Mount Hua 華山|华山[Huà Shān] in Shaanxi / surname Hua

  • 去
    qù

    to go / to go to (a place) / (of a time etc) last / just passed / to send / to remove / to get rid of / to reduce / to be apart from in space or time / to die (euphemism) / to play (a part) / (when used either before or after a verb) to go in order to do sth / (after a verb of motion indicates movement away from the speaker) / (used after certain verbs to indicate detachment or separation)

  • 其
    qí

    his / her / its / their / that / such / it (refers to sth preceding it)

  • 糟
    zāo

    dregs / draff / pickled in wine / rotten / messy / ruined

  • 粕
    pò

    grains in distilled liquor

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.