"To turn the tide" literally means using force to hold back surging waves. It is a metaphor for relying on extraordinary courage, wisdom, and strength to reverse a critical and turbulent situation and save it from disaster. This idiom originates from Han Yu's "Advancing in Learning" in the Tang Dynasty: "To dam a hundred rivers and make them flow east, to turn back the raging waves when they have already collapsed." It originally described how Confucian thought could guide chaotic doctrines back to the right path, and later came to mean playing a decisive role in a time of crisis. It is often used to describe heroes, leaders, or key forces in major crises, such as political turmoil, wartime emergencies, economic collapse, or social chaos. In emotional coloring, it carries a strongly positive and admiring tone, emphasizing responsibility, decisiveness, and the great spirit of turning a crisis around. In cultural background, it reflects the traditional Chinese cultural ideal of salvation and heroism embodied in "turning back the raging waves when they have already collapsed, and supporting a great building when it is about to fall."
📝 Example
1. When the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, the new CEO turned the tide and brought the enterprise back to life through a series of reforms. (In this sentence, it refers to the CEO saving the company from a crisis at a critical moment.)
2. Facing the raging floods, the People's Liberation Army soldiers turned the tide, building flood-control dikes with their own flesh and blood and protecting the lives and property of the people. (In this sentence, it refers to the soldiers bravely fighting the floods and reversing a dangerous situation.)