披肝沥胆

Origin and story

The image is of laying bare one's inner organs, a forceful metaphor for holding nothing back. A documented early use appears in Li Delin's Discourse on Heaven's Mandate, preserved in his biography in the Book of Sui. The work presents officials appealing wholeheartedly for Yang Jian to accept imperial power. Its declarations of sincerity are part of political writing legitimizing a new ruler.

Later, Sima Guang uses the phrase in a memorial for frank, committed advice from ministers. These settings explain the idiom's association with complete sincerity and loyalty. It describes openness of intention, not an actual act of bodily sacrifice.