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抛砖引玉 (pao1 zhuan1 yin3 yu4) - Ploys to collect gems
By Zhang Ciyun |
March 29, 2009, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
An illustration of the cleverness of the human mind can be found when a valuable trophy is netted at the expense of providing something cheap in advance.
To an English speaker, that means to use a minnow to catch a whale. But to Chinese people, that is expressed in the old saying, pao1 zhuan1 yin3 yu4, or "casting a brick to attract jade."
There are two or three different stories about the origin of that Chinese expression. Among them, the one about two poets is favored by most readers.
Zhao Gu was a well-known Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) poet. People of his time loved his poems and, even today, many poetry buffs can recite nearly every exquisite verse from Zhao's poems.
During the same time, there was another poet with the name of Chang Jian. Chang was less gifted and could only write mediocre poems, but he was a fan of Zhao and wanted very much to meet his idol.
One day, he was told that Zhao was traveling in Hangzhou, Chang hurried to a big temple in the city because he believed that no tourist would ever exclude this site from his itinerary.
To attract Zhao's attention, Chang wrote several unfinished verses on the temple wall. His trick worked. When Zhao saw these unfinished poems, he stopped and added several lines to them to make them complete.
Since Chang's lines were eminently poor and Zhao's verses were so graceful and stylish, people said that Chang had cast a brick to attract jade. The saying p(r)°?o zhu(r)°?n y(r)°‰n y(r)￡§ is still widely used by Chinese speakers today. But it now connotes the modesty of anyone who quotes it.
It is often used in introductions or when one first airs his or her opinions at a discussion. The implication is: "Mine are just some commonplace remarks and I hope they can help joggle your greater minds so you will put forth more valuable opinions and comments."
To an English speaker, that means to use a minnow to catch a whale. But to Chinese people, that is expressed in the old saying, pao1 zhuan1 yin3 yu4, or "casting a brick to attract jade."
There are two or three different stories about the origin of that Chinese expression. Among them, the one about two poets is favored by most readers.
Zhao Gu was a well-known Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) poet. People of his time loved his poems and, even today, many poetry buffs can recite nearly every exquisite verse from Zhao's poems.
During the same time, there was another poet with the name of Chang Jian. Chang was less gifted and could only write mediocre poems, but he was a fan of Zhao and wanted very much to meet his idol.
One day, he was told that Zhao was traveling in Hangzhou, Chang hurried to a big temple in the city because he believed that no tourist would ever exclude this site from his itinerary.
To attract Zhao's attention, Chang wrote several unfinished verses on the temple wall. His trick worked. When Zhao saw these unfinished poems, he stopped and added several lines to them to make them complete.
Since Chang's lines were eminently poor and Zhao's verses were so graceful and stylish, people said that Chang had cast a brick to attract jade. The saying p(r)°?o zhu(r)°?n y(r)°‰n y(r)￡§ is still widely used by Chinese speakers today. But it now connotes the modesty of anyone who quotes it.
It is often used in introductions or when one first airs his or her opinions at a discussion. The implication is: "Mine are just some commonplace remarks and I hope they can help joggle your greater minds so you will put forth more valuable opinions and comments."
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