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另起炉灶

另起爐灶
lìngqǐlúzào
idiom #38,118

Meanings

  1. 1 to set up a separate stove — to start from scratch
  2. 2 to strike out on one's own; to start a new project independently

Examples

他离开了原来的公司，另起炉灶做自己的品牌。
Tā líkāi le yuánlái de gōngsī, lìngqǐlúzào zuò zìjǐ de pǐnpái.
He left his former company and started his own brand from scratch.
这个方案行不通，只好另起炉灶。
Zhège fāng'àn xíng bù tōng, zhǐhǎo lìngqǐlúzào.
This plan won't work — we have no choice but to start over.
与其修修补补，不如另起炉灶。
Yǔqí xiū xiū bǔ bǔ, bùrú lìngqǐlúzào.
Rather than patching things up, we'd be better off starting fresh.

Tips

history
From Li Ruzhen's Qing-dynasty novel 《镜花缘》 (Flowers in the Mirror), chapter 14: 必至闹到‘出而哇之’，饭粪莫辨，这才‘另起炉灶’ — a scene mocking a disgusting meal that requires literally starting a new stove. The literal cooking image (rebuilding a 炉灶, stove) became a metaphor for rebuilding from scratch.
culture
炉灶 (stove/hearth) is the center of the traditional Chinese household — 分家 (splitting the family) literally meant setting up a new 灶. So 另起炉灶 carries connotations of independence and a clean break, with both positive (autonomy) and negative (abandoning the old unit) flavors depending on context.

Stroke Order

另 lìng
起 qǐ
炉 lú
灶 zào