CYChengyu Dictionary

Chengyu meaning

负荆请罪 (fù jīng qǐng zuì)

to offer a sincere apology and accept fault

Plain Answer

Source: Historical anecdote tradition of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru. Treated here as classical story; read it first as a sentence-level judgment.

Core meaning: 负荆请罪 means to offer a sincere apology and accept fault: Used when someone openly admits fault and makes a serious apology, especially after harming a relationship or trust.

Practice this meaningRead the story
Label
neutral / formal story-based
Best objects
workplace apology, responsibility, scope boundary
Do not use when
Do not use 负荆请罪 for a scene that only shares one surface word with the meaning. If the problem is closer to 改邪归正 or the contrast points toward 夜郎自大, choose that nearby entry instead of stretching this one.

Use: Use 负荆请罪 when the workplace apology sentence shows the object, cause, and tone clearly. Avoid: Avoid 负荆请罪 when the sentence only sounds related, lacks evidence, or needs a plainer word.

workplace apology他误会了同事，后来主动负荆请罪。Ta wuhui le tongshi, houlai zhudong fu jing qing zui.He misunderstood his colleague and later took the initiative to make a sincere apology.

Next: Read the examples, then compare 改邪归正 before practicing 负荆请罪 in the focused quiz.

Often studied with: 改邪归正, 以心换心, 亡羊补牢

Read This First

负荆请罪 is introduced here through a classical story tradition retold for modern learners; the source label is Historical anecdote tradition of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru, and the page separates that background from modern sentence choice.

负荆请罪 means to offer a sincere apology and accept fault. The important first reading is Used when someone openly admits fault and makes a serious apology, especially after harming a relationship or trust. This is a neutral phrase in normal use, so the sentence must show the judgment clearly.

Use 负荆请罪 when the object, cause, and tone match examples such as workplace apology, responsibility, scope boundary; then compare 改邪归正 and 以心换心 before writing your own sentence.

Avoid 负荆请罪 when the sentence only shares a broad topic, when the tone would be unfair to the person being described, or when a plainer word would be clearer than a chengyu.

Start with this cue: workplace apology plus a visible reason.

Meaning and Translation Notes

Used when someone openly admits fault and makes a serious apology, especially after harming a relationship or trust.

Literal meaning

carry thorny branches and request punishment

  • 负荆 / carry thorny branches
  • 请罪 / ask to be judged for a fault

English equivalents

  • make a sincere apology near

    Use this when the person admits a real fault and approaches the harmed side with serious responsibility.

  • admit fault and seek forgiveness plain

    make a sincere apology is natural, while admit fault and seek forgiveness preserves the heavier responsibility

  • accept responsibility plain

    This is safer when the audience needs the meaning without extra cultural explanation.

How To Use It

Use 负荆请罪 when the reader can see why to offer a sincere apology and accept fault is the exact judgment, not just the topic. A strong sentence names the actor, the thing being judged, and the evidence that makes this idiom more precise than an ordinary adjective.

  • Use it when the person admits a real fault and approaches the harmed side with serious responsibility.
  • The tone is remorseful and serious, so the surrounding sentence should make the judgment visible.
  • It works in workplace apology, responsibility, scope boundary contexts when the boundary is clear.

Common Mistakes

Do not use 负荆请罪 for a scene that only shares one surface word with the meaning. If the problem is closer to 改邪归正 or the contrast points toward 夜郎自大, choose that nearby entry instead of stretching this one.

  • Do not use it when the apology is casual, polite, or full of excuses.
  • Do not choose it only because the English gloss "make a sincere apology" feels close; compare gai-xie-gui-zheng first.

Wrong Use Clinic

The most useful check is often the phrase you should reject.

  1. The learner wants to sound more idiomatic but has only a broad topic match for 负荆请罪.

    The sentence drops in 负荆请罪 without showing the cause, object, or tone that would make the idiom necessary.

    Fix: Rewrite the sentence so the evidence for to offer a sincere apology and accept fault appears before or after the phrase.

    负荆请罪 fails in this case because a chengyu is not decoration; it must name the exact judgment the sentence is making.

    Compare gai xie gui zheng

  2. The learner wants to say the opposite or a neighboring idea and chooses 负荆请罪 because it feels familiar.

    The sentence uses 负荆请罪, but the described situation points to a different cause, time point, or social attitude.

    Fix: Compare the sentence with 夜郎自大 and choose the phrase whose boundary explains the situation with less force.

    负荆请罪 becomes misleading when the nearby phrase would identify the real problem more cleanly.

    Compare ye lang zi da

  3. The learner has the right meaning area for 负荆请罪 but ignores register and emotional force.

    The sentence uses 负荆请罪 directly about a person, yet gives no softening context or evidence for such a remorseful and serious judgment.

    Fix: Add the observed behavior first, or choose 以心换心 if the sentence needs a gentler learning path.

    负荆请罪 can sound heavier than a short English gloss. The reader needs enough context to see why the tone is fair.

    Compare yi xin huan xin

  4. The learner remembers the origin image of 负荆请罪 but applies it to the wrong object.

    The sentence names an image or story detail, but the real object being judged would be better explained by another chengyu.

    Fix: Name the object first. If the object points toward 过河拆桥, use that contrast instead.

    负荆请罪 should follow the judgment, not the most memorable image. Story memory is useful only when it supports the sentence-level decision.

    Compare guo he chai qiao

Chengyu Often Studied Together

Use these clusters to build sentence-level judgment instead of memorizing a single gloss.

  1. 负荆请罪 with nearby learner choices

    负荆请罪 is often studied beside 改邪归正 and 以心换心 because the words share a theme while asking the learner to judge a different cause, tone, or timing.

    老师先让学生解释负荆请罪，再比较改邪归正和以心换心，这样不会只凭英文近义词选答案。

    gai xie gui zhengyi xin huan xin

  2. 负荆请罪 with contrast checks

    负荆请罪 becomes easier to use when it is contrasted with 亡羊补牢 and 夜郎自大; the contrast forces the writer to decide whether the sentence is praise, warning, correction, or neutral description.

    写作练习里先用负荆请罪造句，再换成亡羊补牢，观察判断方向怎样改变。

    wang yang bu laoye lang zi dagai xie gui zheng

  3. 负荆请罪 in example-building drills

    负荆请罪 should be practiced with 改邪归正 and 亡羊补牢 because examples reveal whether the learner is choosing by meaning, tone, or only by a remembered image.

    课堂上先用负荆请罪写一个有证据的句子，再换成改邪归正或亡羊补牢说明判断为什么改变。

    gai xie gui zhengwang yang bu laoyi xin huan xin

  4. 负荆请罪 in story and source review

    负荆请罪 links best with 以心换心 and 夜郎自大 when the learner is checking whether a source image truly supports a modern sentence.

    复习出处时，不要只背负荆请罪的故事，还要比较以心换心，看哪个成语更能解释现代句子。

    yi xin huan xinye lang zi dagai xie gui zheng

Learner Guide

Use these notes when deciding whether this chengyu fits a real sentence.

Use 负荆请罪 when the person admits a real fault and approaches the harmed side with serious responsibility. This first test keeps the phrase from spreading across every nearby topic. Before using it, identify the speaker, the object being judged, and the reason a plain word would miss the Chinese nuance.

For English translation, make a sincere apology is natural, while admit fault and seek forgiveness preserves the heavier responsibility. Do not choose an English phrase only because it sounds idiomatic. The translation should preserve tone, register, and the situation logic before it tries to sound compact.

The main misuse risk is when the apology is casual, polite, or full of excuses. That boundary matters because chengyu often share a theme while judging different causes, time points, or social attitudes. A nearby phrase can be familiar and still be wrong.

Before using it in your own sentence, show the fault, the person harmed, and the concrete act of taking responsibility. Then compare the sentence with gai-xie-gui-zheng and yi-xin-huan-xin. If one nearby entry explains the situation with less force or more precision, choose that entry instead.

Before using 负荆请罪, write the plain English idea first. If the plain sentence already says everything naturally, the chengyu must add a sharper judgment, cultural image, or tone. If it does not add one of those, leave the plain wording alone.

A good 负荆请罪 sentence contains an object and evidence. The object is the person, plan, habit, result, or scene being judged. The evidence is the reason the phrase fits. Without both parts, the idiom may look learned but feel empty.

Compare 负荆请罪 with 改邪归正 and 夜郎自大 before finalizing a sentence. The goal is not to memorize synonyms; the goal is to reject the wrong phrase for a clear reason. That rejection is what turns recognition into usable knowledge.

When teaching or self-reviewing 负荆请罪, ask the learner to mark source, meaning, use case, wrong case, and one example. If any mark is missing, return to the entry section that supplies it rather than guessing from the headword alone.

workplace apology is the first test zone for 负荆请罪, but it is not the only possible use. Before using the phrase, name the speaker, the object being judged, and the nearest tested context: workplace apology, responsibility, scope boundary, usage boundary, misuse boundary, comparison check, context setup, teacher correction. Then choose among make a sincere apology, admit fault and seek forgiveness, accept responsibility as translation candidates and reject at least one candidate out loud. A useful final check is to compare the sentence with gai-xie-gui-zheng and yi-xin-huan-xin; if one of those nearby entries explains the situation with less strain, the nearby phrase is the better learner choice.

When 负荆请罪 is translated as make a sincere apology, the English should still preserve the phrase's tone. Keep remorseful and serious and the wisdom use area visible when the audience is still learning the idiom. If a short translation hides the warning "Do not use it when the apology is casual, polite, or full of excuses.", choose a fuller English explanation instead. This matters because the strongest chengyu pages should help readers decide when not to use the most convenient English equivalent.

Example Sentences

Each example labels the situation so you can choose a natural English translation.

workplace apology

他误会了同事，后来主动负荆请罪。

Ta wuhui le tongshi, houlai zhudong fu jing qing zui.

He misunderstood his colleague and later took the initiative to make a sincere apology.

responsibility

这不是一句对不起，而是负荆请罪式的承担。

Zhe bu shi yi ju duibuqi, er shi fu jing qing zui shi de chengdan.

This was not just a sorry; it was an apology that accepted responsibility.

scope boundary

负荆请罪需要承认过错，不适合普通客套道歉。

Fu jing qing zui xuyao chengren guocuo, bu shihe putong ketao daoqian.

负荆请罪 requires admitting fault; it does not fit an ordinary polite apology.

usage boundary

只有原因和语气都清楚时，这句话才适合用负荆请罪。

zhi you yuan yin he yu qi dou qing chu shi zhe ju hua cai shi he yong fu jing qing zui

Only use 负荆请罪 when the cause and tone are both clear, not just because the topic feels nearby.

misuse boundary

如果只是普通情况，不要为了显得有文化而硬说负荆请罪。

ru guo zhi shi pu tong qing kuang bu yao wei le xian de you wen hua er ying shuo fu jing qing zui

If the situation is ordinary, do not force 负荆请罪 just to make the sentence sound more cultured.

comparison check

比较近义成语以后，再决定这里是不是应该写负荆请罪。

bi jiao jin yi cheng yu yi hou zai jue ding zhe li shi bu shi ying gai xie fu jing qing zui

After comparing nearby chengyu, decide whether 负荆请罪 is really the phrase the sentence needs.

context setup

这段话先说明对象和原因，所以负荆请罪读起来不突兀。

zhe duan hua xian shuo ming dui xiang he yuan yin suo yi fu jing qing zui du qi lai bu tu wu

The passage names the object and cause first, so 负荆请罪 does not feel abrupt.

teacher correction

老师让学生先解释为什么不用别的词，再用负荆请罪造句。

lao shi rang xue sheng xian jie shi wei shen me bu yong bie de ci zai yong fu jing qing zui zao ju

The teacher asks students to explain why another phrase would be wrong before writing a sentence with 负荆请罪.

Story and Cultural Context

The famous story tells of Lian Po carrying thorny branches to apologize to Lin Xiangru after realizing his own resentment had been wrong. Modern learners usually need the phrase as a decision tool. It tells them when a situation has crossed a specific boundary, not merely which English word looks similar. In the examples here, the phrase is tested against workplace apology, responsibility, scope boundary so the reader can see how the meaning changes with use. The safest reading is to keep the image, the tone, and the social situation together. The famous story tells of Lian Po carrying thorny branches to apologize to Lin Xiangru after realizing his own resentment had been wrong. For English speakers, the useful memory is not only the literal image but the decision it makes possible. The examples test workplace apology, responsibility, scope boundary so the phrase remains tied to real use instead of becoming a decorative translation label. For this entry, the origin note is only the beginning of the explanation. The useful question is why 负荆请罪 survived as a portable judgment rather than as a decorative allusion. The classical story route gives the reader an image, but the modern sentence must still prove its own fit. A learner should ask three things: what concrete object is being judged, what evidence in the sentence supports that judgment, and what tone the phrase adds that a plain English adjective would not add. This is why the page tests 负荆请罪 through workplace apology, responsibility, scope boundary, usage boundary, misuse boundary; each context changes the pressure on the phrase and shows whether the idiom is acting as praise, warning, neutral description, or criticism. The story or usage background also has a translation boundary. 负荆请罪 can point toward make a sincere apology, admit fault and seek forgiveness, accept responsibility, but those English choices are not interchangeable. One version may preserve the image, another may sound natural in a classroom answer, and another may be safer in a workplace or essay sentence. The entry therefore treats public references as source cards, not as a paragraph order to imitate. Headword checks, story labels, and English equivalents are separated first; only after that are they rebuilt into the learner path used here: answer, label, examples, wrong-use clinic, comparison, story, and practice. The most common failure is overextension. Because 负荆请罪 has a memorable surface, learners may reach for it whenever a topic feels close. The better habit is to compare it with 改邪归正 and 以心换心 and with 夜郎自大 and 过河拆桥 before writing. If the rejected phrase is hard to reject, the sentence probably has not supplied enough evidence. If the rejected phrase is easy to reject, the learner can explain the boundary and use 负荆请罪 with confidence. That is the practical purpose of the origin section: it turns cultural memory into a sentence-level decision instead of leaving the reader with a story and no next action.

Learning point: A real apology accepts responsibility instead of protecting pride.

Open the dedicated story page

Editorial Notes

These notes turn the entry into a decision path, not a loose definition.

First answer before details

负荆请罪 should first be read as a decision about to offer a sincere apology and accept fault, not as a collectible story label. The classical story helps memory, but the reader's real task is to decide whether the modern sentence is making a neutral judgment with enough evidence. Start with the object being described, then ask what happened, who is being judged, and whether the tone is fair. If those details are missing, the idiom will feel like learned decoration rather than useful Chinese. This first-answer rule also helps teachers and translators: they can explain the phrase quickly before deciding whether a longer story, comparison, or correction block is needed.

Example clinic

The examples for 负荆请罪 deliberately cover workplace apology, responsibility, scope boundary, usage boundary, misuse boundary because a learner needs more than one successful sentence before the phrase becomes usable. Read the Chinese sentence, then explain in plain English why this phrase is more precise than a simple adjective or loose translation. A strong example names the context, shows the evidence, and makes the tone visible. A weak example merely places the chengyu near a related topic. This habit prevents a common error: remembering the literal image but forgetting the social judgment carried by the phrase. When the example feels forced, return to the meaning line and choose a plainer wording.

Comparison boundary

Before using 负荆请罪, compare it with 改邪归正 and 以心换心 and, when possible, with 夜郎自大 and 过河拆桥. The comparison is not a synonym game. Nearby chengyu often share effort, caution, wisdom, or evaluation as a topic, while differing in cause, timing, and emotional force. A good learner sentence can explain why the rejected phrase fails. If that explanation is impossible, the chosen idiom is probably too loose. This is also the cleanest internal-link reason: the next page exists because it helps the reader reject a tempting but wrong choice. The comparison should leave a reusable rule, not merely another link to click.

Wrong-use trigger

负荆请罪 should be rejected when the sentence lacks an object, hides the reason for the judgment, or uses the idiom only because it sounds literary. The safest correction is to rewrite the sentence in plain English first, then add the chengyu only if it sharpens the meaning. If the tone becomes unfair, choose a gentler nearby phrase. If the source image is memorable but the modern object does not match, use the story only as background and do not force the idiom into the sentence. This wrong-use trigger is what keeps the entry from becoming a long but vague dictionary page.

Source synthesis note

负荆请罪 uses public references as checkpoints rather than as a structure to copy. One source may help with the headword, another with a story or image, and another with English translation range. The page then rebuilds those checks into its own learner order: short answer, label, examples, misuse, collocation, guide, story, and practice. This matters because a single-source paraphrase would give readers a familiar-looking article but not a better learning tool. The editorial value here is the decision path: what to use, what not to use, what to compare, and how to test the phrase in a new sentence.

Practice This Decision

Answer a focused quiz question, then come back to the examples and misuse clinic if the near phrase feels tempting.

Start focused quizReview mistakes first