拨 乱 反 正

bō luàn fǎn zhèngdictionary entry

bring order out of chaos / set to rights things which have been thrown into disorder

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-3c5ada23b481570e. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

撥亂反正 拨乱反正 [bo1 luan4 fan3 zheng4] /bring order out of chaos/set to rights things which have been thrown into disorder/

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: 撥亂反正

拨
bō
to push aside with the hand, foot, a stick etc / to dial / to allocate / to set aside (money) / to poke (the fire) / to pluck (a string instrument) / to turn round / classifier: group, batch
乱
luàn
in confusion or disorder / in a confused state of mind / disorder / upheaval / riot / illicit sexual relations / to throw into disorder / to mix up / indiscriminate / random / arbitrary
反
fǎn
contrary / in reverse / inside out or upside down / to reverse / to return / to oppose / opposite / against / anti- / to rebel / to use analogy / instead / abbr. for 反切[fǎn qiè] phonetic system
正
zhēng
first month of the lunar year
zhèng
straight / upright / proper / main / principal / to correct / to rectify / exactly / just (at that time) / right (in that place) / (math.) positive

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.