I am translating a text about a man who got divorced and after many days of desperation, he eventually starts accepting his situation and so he totally changes himself and starts a new life and a new way of being. This is described as "the Phoenix process", a rebirth, and he came to be a "new born" and a new man. How can I say all those things in few Chinese words? I thought about 重生 but I am not sure about its use. I was also wondering if there is a chengyu that can better explain it.
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1涅槃 (nirvana) ought to be out of reincarnation, no more death - rebirth cycles :)– 水巷孑蠻Jul 10, 2016 at 11:56
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@水巷孑蠻 Thanks for correcting me! (OMG I've got it wrong for so many years...)– StanJul 10, 2016 at 18:22
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@水巷孑蠻 It seems I'm not the only one who gets it wrong, Guo Moruo must have misled many (See 凤凰涅槃).– StanJul 10, 2016 at 18:34
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common saying： 脱胎换骨 （＂汉语熟语小词典＂：本来是道教用语。指修道要脱去凡胎，换掉凡骨。现多比喻改变认识或重新做人。［例］从欧洲访问回来后，他有一种 脱胎换骨 的感觉，感叹自己以前知道得太少了。– user6065Oct 5, 2016 at 2:14
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2 Answers
重新振作 ↓
换了个人↓
走出阴影↓
获得新生
重生一般
脱胎换骨(chengyu)
浴火重生 (chengyu)
凤凰涅磐 (chengyu)
羽化登仙(metamorphosis from human being to heavenly being)
In Chinese, we even have a six-word phrase "鳳凰 (phoenix) 浴火 (bath in fire) 重生 (to reborn)", to refer to the mythology about phoenixes' reborn. "重生" means reborn, where 重 means "again" and 生 means "birth", so it can be used as a phrasal verb or a noun. 浴火重生 is also used frequently enough to be considered as something like an idiom/chengyu (although it doesn't have the long history like a chengyu).
Since you are translating, I recommend that you keep the original reference to the phoenix process. However, for future readers, if you are looking for another idiom that has a similar meaning, there is an old poem by 陸游, which can be used in a similar context: "山窮水盡疑無路，柳暗花明又一村", although it only implies the meaning of getting hope in the most (mentally) hopeless condition, but not literally (physically) the meaning of death/actual defeat.
