反其道而行之

fǎnqídào'érxíngzhī

idiom #35,580

Meanings

1 to do exactly the opposite
2 to act in a diametrically opposed way
3 to take the contrary approach

Characters

Examples

HSK 5

别人都涨价，他却反其道而行之，搞起了打折。

Biérén dōu zhǎngjià, tā què fǎnqídào'érxíngzhī, gǎo qǐ le dǎzhé.

While everyone else raised prices, he did the opposite and started discounting.

HSK 6

导演反其道而行之，把悲剧拍成了喜剧。

Dǎoyǎn fǎnqídào'érxíngzhī, bǎ bēijù pāi chéng le xǐjù.

The director went against the grain and turned the tragedy into a comedy.

HSK 7-9

如果常规方法没用，不妨反其道而行之。

Rúguǒ chángguī fāngfǎ méiyòng, bùfáng fǎnqídào'érxíngzhī.

If the conventional approach isn't working, why not try the opposite.

Tips

grammar

Six-character idiom often used as a verb phrase. The 之 acts as the object pronoun referring back to the convention being reversed.

history

Echoes a passage in 《史记·淮阴侯列传》 where 韩信 advises taking the opposite course of a tyrannical ruler - doing the reverse will win the realm.

Stroke Order

反 fǎn

其 qí

道 dào

而 ér

行 xíng

之 zhī