陶冶 táoyě literally to fire pots and smelt metal
literally to fire pots and smelt metal; figuratively to educate
How to remember 陶冶: 陶 pottery + 冶 to smelt = literally to fire pots and smelt metal.
Characters
How it is used
- To cultivate and refine one's character/taste, as if firing clay and smelting metal - 陶冶情操 (táoyě qíngcāo) to cultivate one's moral sentiments.
- Formal and literary; the object is inner qualities, temperament, or aesthetic sense, shaped gradually by art/nature.
- Almost always in the set phrase 陶冶情操/性情; not used for practical skills (那用 培养/训练).