治病救人

zhìbìngjiùrén

idiom #40,904

Meanings

1 to cure the sickness to save the patient (idiom)
2 to criticize someone in order to help them
3 corrective action meant as help, not punishment

Characters

to save; rescue

Examples

医生的职责就是治病救人。

Yīshēng de zhízé jiùshì zhìbìngjiùrén.

A doctor's duty is to cure the sick and save lives.

批评要本着治病救人的态度。

Pīpíng yào běnzhe zhìbìngjiùrén de tàidù.

Criticism should be offered in the spirit of curing the illness to save the person.

处分不是目的，治病救人才是。

Chǔfèn bùshì mùdì, zhìbìngjiùrén cái shì.

Punishment is not the goal — curing the person is.

Tips

usage

Two uses: (1) literal — describing medical practice; (2) figurative — the principle that criticism and discipline should aim to reform, not destroy, a person. The figurative sense is standard in HR, education, and Party discipline discourse.

grammar

Two parallel verb-object phrases: 治病 (treat illness) + 救人 (save person). The second clause expresses the goal of the first — a common chengyu pattern: 修身养性, 扶贫济困, 劝善惩恶.

Stroke Order

治 zhì

病 bìng

救 jiù

人 rén