有则改之

有則改之

yǒuzégǎizhī

idiom

Meanings

Duìyú pīpíng, wǒmen yīnggāi yǒu zé gǎi zhī, wú zé jiā miǎn.

Toward criticism: correct the faults if they apply; redouble effort if they don't.

Yǒu zé gǎi zhī, zhè shì xūxīn jiēshòu yìjiàn de tàidù.

'Correct it if you have it' — that's the open-minded attitude toward feedback.

history

Zhu Xi's Song-dynasty commentary on the Analects: 有则改之，无则加勉. Paired phrase is the canonical response to receiving criticism.

usage

Almost always cited alongside 无则加勉. The four-char form alone is standard in speech when the context makes the pairing obvious.

有 yǒu

则 zé

改 gǎi

之 zhī