Throwing a Brick to Attract Jade
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Pronunciation:
pao(1) zhuan(1) yin(3) yu(4)
Explanation:
A
metaphor that means one might offer some rough
idea or essay first, in order to draw out
other people's better or more mature ideas.
Tone:
Positive
The
Story: In the Tang Dynasty, there was
a poet named Zhao Gu--he was very intelligent.
One year, he went to Su Zhou, where a local
poet Chang Jian was always admiring his literary
talent. In order to get Zhao Gu's attention,
Chan Jian wrote 2 stanzas on the wall of the
Lingyan Temple. When Zhao Gu visited the temple
and saw the unfinished poem, he completed
it by adding another 2 stanzas, as expected.
As
Zhao Gu's part was better than Chang Jian's,
later people described this kind of action
as 'throwing a brick to attract jade'.
In
modern life, you can easily find many ways
to use this idiom!
Usage
Example (Pinyin): Ni(3) men shou(3) li
de zhi(3) shi(4) wo(4) suo(3) xiang(3) dao(4)
de, wo(3) zhi(3) shi(4) pao(1) zhuan(1) yin(3)
yu(4), xia(4) mian(4) wo(3) men kai(1) shi(3)
tao(3) lun(4).
Usage
Example (English translation): Everyone's
paper has tells all the ideas I have. I was
just throwing a brick to attract jade, so
now let's discuss for more.
Note:
The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4
spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create
those above where after each syllable we tell
you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond
to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to
complement your Xianzai.com Chinese Idioms
newsletter with a good offline study program.
