







青出于蓝而胜于蓝 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “the student surpasses the teacher”. The successor excels the predecessor. Literally, “Indigo comes from the blue plant, but is bluer than the blue plant”.
During the Northern Wei Dynasty, a scholar named Li Mi was very diligent in his studies. He became a student under the literary doctor Kong Fan.
Li Mi was hardworking, diligent, and eager to learn, and his progress was very rapid. After several years, Li Mi's scholarship surpassed that of his teacher, Kong Fan, to the point where Kong Fan sometimes sought Li Mi's advice.
Li Mi's fellow students composed a song about this: 'Indigo forms from the blue plant, the blue plant gives way to indigo. How can a teacher remain constant? It lies in understanding the classics.'

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Open the tool →青出于蓝而胜于蓝 (qīng chū yú lán ér shèng yú lán) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “the student surpasses the teacher”.
青出于蓝而胜于蓝 is pronounced qīng chū yú lán ér shèng yú lán in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 青出于蓝而胜于蓝 means “Indigo comes from the blue plant, but is bluer than the blue plant”. It is used to mean “the student surpasses the teacher”.
青出于蓝而胜于蓝 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to the modern era. The full story is on this page.
青从蓝草中提炼出来,但颜色比蓝草更深。