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去芜存菁

qù wú cún jīngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. to get rid of the weeds and keep the flowers / to separate the wheat from the chaff (idiom)
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-390228f5a24fe796. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

去蕪存菁 去芜存菁 [qu4 wu2 cun2 jing1] /lit. to get rid of the weeds and keep the flowers/to separate the wheat from the chaff (idiom)/

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: 去蕪存菁

  • 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)

  • 芜
    wú

    overgrown with weeds

  • 存
    cún

    to exist / to deposit / to store / to keep / to survive

  • 菁
    jīng

    leek flower / lush / luxuriant

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.