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总把新桃换旧符

總把新桃換舊符
zǒngbǎxīntáohuànjiùfú
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 people always replace the old peachwood charms with new ones
  2. 2 fig. every new year renews old things
  3. 3 a classical image for the Lunar New Year ritual of replacing door charms

Examples

过年时家家户户总把新桃换旧符。
Guònián shí jiā jiā hù hù zǒng bǎ xīn táo huàn jiù fú.
At New Year, every household replaces old peachwood charms with new ones.
改革开放以来，国家面貌一新——总把新桃换旧符。
Gǎigé kāifàng yǐlái, guójiā miànmào yì xīn — zǒng bǎ xīn táo huàn jiù fú.
Since reform and opening-up, the nation has taken a new face — always, the new peach replaces the old charm.

Tips

history
The closing line of Wang Anshi's (王安石) Song poem 《元日》 (New Year's Day): 爆竹声中一岁除，春风送暖入屠苏。千门万户曈曈日，总把新桃换旧符。 — 'Amid firecrackers the year passes; spring wind carries warmth into the tusu wine. A thousand gates, ten thousand doors under the rising sun — everywhere, new peach-charms replace the old.' 桃符 were peachwood tablets hung on doors to repel evil, ancestors of today's couplet scrolls (春联).
usage
Cited every Spring Festival. 桃 here is short for 桃符 (peachwood charm), not peach fruit. Used figuratively for any wholesale renewal or reform.

Stroke Order

总 zǒng
把 bǎ
新 xīn
桃 táo
换 huàn
旧 jiù
符 fú