改头换面 gǎi tóu huàn miàn change one's appearance

Explanation

原指改变容貌，现在多指只改变外表形式，而内容实质不变。

Originally, it meant changing one's appearance. Now, it mostly refers to only changing the external form and appearance, while the content and substance remain unchanged.

Origin Story

话说很久以前，在一个偏僻的小山村里，住着一个名叫阿牛的年轻人。阿牛老实巴交，心地善良，但却因为长相平凡，一直没有找到心仪的姑娘。有一天，阿牛偶然听说城里来了个算命先生，据说这位先生神通广大，能给人改头换面，让相貌变得英俊潇洒。阿牛半信半疑，抱着试试看的心态，前往城里寻找这位算命先生。经过一番周折，阿牛终于找到了这位算命先生，他自称是江湖上赫赫有名的“易容大师”。易容大师为阿牛施了一种奇特的秘法，阿牛感觉自己的身体发生了奇异的变化，原本平凡的面容，竟然变得英俊非凡，整个人仿佛焕然一新。改头换面后的阿牛信心倍增，他开始在城里积极寻找自己的意中人。然而，在和姑娘们接触的过程中，阿牛发现，那些姑娘们都只关注他的外表，对他的人品和内在却毫无兴趣。阿牛感到深深的失望，他意识到，真正的爱情并非靠改头换面就能获得的。于是，阿牛决定放弃这种虚荣的追求，回到小山村，做回原来的自己，踏踏实实地过日子，最终他找到了真爱。

huà shuō hěn jiǔ yǐ qián, zài yīgè piānpì de xiǎo shān cūn lǐ, zhù zhe yīgè míng jiào ā niú de nián qīng rén。ā niú lǎoshí bājiāo, xīn dì shànliáng, dàn què yīnwèi chángxiàng píngfán, yīzhí méiyǒu zhǎodào xīn yí de gūniang。yǒu yī tiān, ā niú ǒurán tīngshuō chéng lǐ lái le gè suàn mìng xiānsheng, jù shuō zhè wèi xiānsheng shéntōng guǎngdà, néng gěi rén gǎi tóu huàn miàn, ràng xiàngmào biàn de yīngjùn xiāosǎ。ā niú bàn xìn bàn yí, bào zhe shìshì kàn de xīntài, qiánwǎng chéng lǐ xúnzhǎo zhè wèi suàn mìng xiānsheng。jīngguò yīfān zhōu zhé, ā niú zhōngyú zhǎodào le zhè wèi suàn mìng xiānsheng, tā zìchēng shì jiānghú shàng hè hè yǒumíng de “yìróng dàshī”。yìróng dàshī wèi ā niú shī le yī zhǒng qí tè de mìfǎ, ā niú gǎnjué zìjǐ de shēntǐ fāshēng le qíyì de biànhuà, yuánběn píngfán de miànróng, jìngrán biàn de yīngjùn fēifán, zhěng gè rén fǎngfú huànrán yīxīn。gǎi tóu huàn miàn hòu de ā niú xìnxīn bèizēng, tā kāishǐ zài chéng lǐ jījí xúnzhǎo zìjǐ de yì zhōng rén。rán'ér, zài hé gūniang men jiēchù de guòchéng zhōng, ā niú fāxiàn, nàxiē gūniang men dōu zhǐ guānzhù tā de wàibiǎo, duì tā de rénpǐn hé nèizài què háo wú xìngqù。ā niú gǎndào shēn shēn de shīwàng, tā yìshí dào, zhēnzhèng de àiqíng bìngfēi kào gǎi tóu huàn miàn jiù néng huòdé de。yúshì, ā niú juédìng fàngqì zhè zhǒng xūróng de zhuīqiú, huí dào xiǎo shān cūn, zuò huí yuánlái de zìjǐ, tà tàshishi de guò rizi, zuìzhōng tā zhǎodào le zhēn'ài。

Once upon a time, in a remote mountain village, there lived a young man named An Niu. An Niu was honest and kind-hearted, but because of his plain appearance, he had never found a girl he liked. One day, An Niu accidentally heard that a fortune teller had come to the city. It was said that this fortune teller had great abilities and could change people's appearance to make them handsome and dashing. An Niu was half-believing and half-doubting, so he went to the city to find this fortune teller. After some twists and turns, An Niu finally found this fortune teller, who claimed to be the famous "master of facial transformation" in the Jianghu. The master of facial transformation used a unique secret method for An Niu, and An Niu felt a strange change in his body. His original plain face had actually become extraordinarily handsome, and the whole person seemed completely renewed. After his transformation, An Niu became more confident and began actively looking for his dream girl in the city. However, during his interactions with the girls, An Niu discovered that these girls only cared about his appearance and were not interested in his character or personality. An Niu was deeply disappointed, and he realized that true love could not be obtained by changing one's appearance. So, An Niu decided to give up this vain pursuit, returned to his mountain village, became his original self again, lived a down-to-earth life, and finally found true love.

Usage

多用于形容只改变外表或形式，内容实质不变的情况。

duō yòng yú xíngróng zhǐ gǎibiàn wàibiǎo huò xíngshì, nèiróng shízhì bùbiàn de qíngkuàng。

It is often used to describe situations where only the appearance or form changes, while the content and substance remain unchanged.

Examples

• 这家公司改头换面后，业绩却并没有显著提升。

  zhè jiā gōngsī gǎi tóu huàn miàn hòu, yèjì què bìng méiyǒu xiǎnzhù tíshēng.

  The company changed its image, but its performance did not improve significantly.

• 他改头换面试图逃避法律的制裁，但最终还是被抓住了。

  tā gǎi tóu huàn miàn shìtú táobì fǎlǜ de zhìcái, dàn zuìzhōng háishì bèi zhuā zhù le。

  He changed his appearance to escape legal sanctions but was eventually caught..

Related Idioms

• 乔装打扮

• 面目一新

Opposite Idioms

• 原封不动

• 依然如故