破除

• Pinyin: pò chú
• Hanzi breakdown: 破 = 石 + 皮 (stone + skin — to break); 除 = 阝 + 余 (mound + surplus — to clear away, remove)

Meaning

To break with; to eliminate; to do away with. To actively remove an established but harmful custom, superstition, or outdated constraint.

Implies deliberate effort to dismantle entrenched norms. Common collocations: 破除迷信 (eliminate superstition), 破除陋习 (break bad customs), 破除偏见 (overcome prejudice). Carries a reformist or progressive tone.

Examples

1. 政府大力倡导破除铺张浪费的宴席陋习，鼓励民众以简朴方式举办婚丧等人生仪式。 The government has strongly promoted doing away with the wasteful custom of lavish banquets, encouraging people to hold weddings, funerals, and other life ceremonies in a simple way.
2. 科学教育的普及有助于破除长期根植于民间的封建迷信观念，引导公众以理性态度看待自然现象。 Wider access to science education helps dispel feudal superstitions long rooted among the public and guides people to view natural phenomena rationally.
3. 这家企业率先破除论资排辈的晋升制度，建立起以绩效和能力为核心的人才选拔机制。 This company took the lead in scrapping seniority-based promotion rules and built a talent selection system centered on performance and ability.

Usage Guide

Context: social reform, policy, culture, education

Tone: positive

Do Say

• 推动高等教育公平化的关键在于系统性地破除阻碍农村学生获取优质教育资源的制度性壁垒，而非仅靠零散的政策修补。(The key to promoting equity in higher education lies in systematically breaking down the institutional barriers that obstruct rural students' access to quality educational resources, not merely relying on piecemeal policy adjustments.)
• 职场文化的真正变革要求领导层以身作则，率先破除对员工休假权利的隐性歧视，从而形成上行下效的健康工作氛围。(Genuine transformation of workplace culture requires leadership to lead by example, proactively breaking down implicit discrimination against employees' right to take leave, thereby establishing a healthy work atmosphere that cascades downward.)

Don't Say

• 破除 implies actively dismantling something deeply entrenched — do not use it for simply stopping a personal habit; for that, use 改掉 or 戒掉; 破除 is stronger and more deliberate than 消除 (to eliminate)

Origin & History

破 (to break — 石 stone + 皮 skin → breaking through) + 除 (to eliminate, to remove — 阜 mound + 余 surplus → clearing away)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal