漆身吞炭 — “To deliberately disfigure oneself (e.g”

漆身吞炭 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to deliberately disfigure oneself (e.g”. By painting the body to resemble a leper) and alter one's voice (e.g., by swallowing charcoal to make it hoarse) in order to avoid recognition, often for a specific purpose like revenge or disguise. Literally, “Varnish the body and swallow charcoal”.

Frequency

漆身吞炭 Pronunciation and Pinyin

漆身吞炭 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
漆	qī	14	lacquer, paint, or to paint
身	shēn	7	body, person, life, self
吞	tūn	7	swallow, engulf, annex
炭	tàn	9	charcoal or carbon

Example Sentence with 漆身吞炭

为了完成一项秘密任务，他甚至不惜漆身吞炭，彻底改变了自己的外貌和声音，以免被人认出。

To accomplish a secret mission, he even went so far as to "varnish his body and swallow charcoal," completely changing his appearance and voice to avoid being recognized.

Origin and Story of 漆身吞炭

In the late Spring and Autumn period, there was civil unrest in the Jin state. Zhao Xiangzi, a high official, killed Zhi Bo, another high official.

Zhi Bo's loyal retainer, Yu Rang, swore to avenge his master by killing Zhao Xiangzi. He once infiltrated Zhao Xiangzi's residence but failed in his assassination attempt. Zhao Xiangzi admired his loyalty and released him.

For his second attempt, Yu Rang painted his entire body to resemble a leper and swallowed burning charcoal to make his voice hoarse, completely disguising himself to avoid recognition. He tried to assassinate Zhao Xiangzi again but failed and subsequently committed suicide.