Toss a Brick to Attract Jade

Tángcháo de shíhou, yǒu liǎng wèi shīrén, yí wèi jiào Cháng Jiàn, yí wèi jiào Zhào Gǔ.

During the Tang dynasty, there were two poets: one named Chang Jian, and one named Zhao Gu.

Cháng Jiàn de shī xiě de yě hěn bùcuò, dàn tā xīn lǐ shífēn jìngpèi Zhào Gǔ, rènwéi Zhào Gǔ de shī cái gèng gāo.

Chang Jian's own poems were quite good, but he greatly admired Zhao Gu, believing Zhao Gu's poetic talent was greater.

Yǒu yì nián, Cháng Jiàn tīngshuō Zhào Gǔ yào lái yóulǎn Sūzhōu de Língyán Sì, xīn lǐ fēicháng gāoxìng.

One year, Chang Jian heard that Zhao Gu would come to visit Lingyan Temple in Suzhou, and he was very happy.

Tā hěn xiǎng dédào Zhào Gǔ qīnbǐ xiě de shījù, què yòu bù hǎoyìsi zhíjiē kāikǒu xiāng qiú.

He very much wanted a line of poetry in Zhao Gu's own hand, but was too embarrassed to ask directly.

Yúshì tā xiǎng chū le yí ge qiǎomiào de bànfǎ —— “pāo zhuān yǐn yù”.

So he came up with a clever plan—"tossing a brick to attract jade."

Tā tíqián lái dào Língyán Sì, zài qiáng shàng tí xià liǎng jù shī, gùyì zhǐ xiě yí bàn, liú xià bàn shǒu méiyǒu xiě wán.

He went to Lingyan Temple ahead of time and wrote two lines of a poem on the wall, deliberately leaving it half finished.

Cháng Jiàn xīn xiǎng: Zhào Gǔ kàn dào zhè liǎng jù wèi wán de shī, yídìng huì rěn bu zhù bǔ shàng hòumian de jùzi.

Chang Jian thought to himself: when Zhao Gu sees these two unfinished lines, he will surely be unable to resist completing the poem.

Guǒrán, Zhào Gǔ yóulǎn Língyán Sì shí yì yǎn kàn dào le qiáng shàng de cán shī, biàn tí bǐ xù shàng le liǎng jù.

Sure enough, when Zhao Gu visited Lingyan Temple, he noticed the unfinished poem on the wall, took up a brush, and added two lines.

Zhào Gǔ xùxiě de liǎng jù guǒrán jīngcǎi-juélún, Cháng Jiàn kàn le xǐchū-wàngwài.

The two lines Zhao Gu added were truly splendid, and Chang Jian was overjoyed.

Rénmen tīngshuō le zhè jiàn shì, dōu shuō Cháng Jiàn shì “pāo zhuān yǐn yù” —— yòng zìjǐ cūlòu de “zhuān”, huàn lái le Zhào Gǔ jīngměi de “yù”.

When people heard of this, they all said Chang Jian had "tossed a brick to attract jade"—using his own rough "brick" to obtain Zhao Gu's exquisite "jade."

Rújīn zhè ge chéngyǔ cháng zuò qiāncí, kāihuì huò xiě xìn shí xiān shuō “wǒ xiān pāo zhuān yǐn yù, jiǎng jǐ diǎn bù chéngshú de kànfǎ”, jiùshì xīwàng yǐn chū biérén gèng gāomíng de yìjiàn.

Today this idiom is often used as a humble expression: in a meeting or a letter, saying "let me first toss a brick to attract jade, and offer a few half-formed thoughts" means one hopes to draw out others' wiser opinions.

Tā de zhìhuì zàiyú: yào xiǎng dédào zhēnguì de huíyìng, bùfáng xiān dàfāng de ná chū zìjǐ de yí fèn, zhēnchéng wǎngwǎng néng huàn lái gèng hǎo de huíbào.

Its wisdom: to receive precious replies in return, you may as well first generously offer your own part; sincerity often earns a better reward.