Chinese idiom · 成语
潜移默化
Meaning
Subtle shift, silent change; gradual influence.
Character by character
Origin and story
Family instructionIn the Mu Xian chapter of Yanshi Jiaxun, Yan Zhitui explains that young people absorb the speech, laughter, and behavior of their companions without setting out to study them. He calls this 潜移暗化, an unnoticed process of change. Good company is compared to a room of fragrant plants; bad company to a shop selling pungent fish. Staying in either environment leaves its scent on a person.
Yan uses these images to urge care in choosing friends and models. The later form 潜移默化 retains his emphasis on influence operating beneath conscious attention. It can describe slowly acquired attitudes and habits, rather than a sudden lesson or explicit command.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
和爱读书的室友住久了，我也在潜移默化中养成了睡前阅读的习惯。
After living with a book-loving roommate for a long time, I gradually picked up the habit of reading before bed.
Highlights unnoticed influence over time, often through surroundings or example.