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Buyi huanzhu is an idiom originated from Han Fei's Han Feizi waichu Shuo Zuo Shang in the Warring States period.

It refers to the return of pearls from a wooden box that was bought to hold pearls. Used as predicate, object and attribute in a sentence; used in writing.

The origin of Idioms

Some Chu people sell their pearls to Zheng. They are magnolias, smoked with cinnamon peppers, decorated with pearls and jade, decorated with roses, and compiled with Yucui. The people of Zheng bought their oysters and returned their pearls. This can be said to be a good seller, but not a good pearl. In today's world, we all argue that the words of the text are useful. (Han Feizi, upper left on the theory of waichu, written by Han Feizi in the Warring States period) the idiom "buy and return pearls" was refined by later generations.

Idioms and allusions

during the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, there was a jewelry merchant in the state of Chu. He often went back and forth between the state of Chu and the state of Zheng to do some jewelry business. One day, he prepared some jewelry to be sold in the state of Zheng. In order to attract customers and sell at a good price, he thought of a good way. He chose some superior wood and asked craftsmen to make exquisite and novel wooden boxes. He also asked highly skilled sculptors to carve various beautiful patterns on the outside of the boxes. At the same time, he selected different valuable spices to make the box fragrant and charming. When the box is finished, it looks golden and smells charming. It's really a rare work of art. He thought that if the jewels were put in these boxes, they would certainly attract Zheng people. Maybe they would rush to buy his own jewels, and then they would make a lot of money. the jeweler carefully put the jewels into the specially made box, took the jewels and left for Zheng State with confidence. After arriving in the state of Zheng, he displayed his jewelry in a bustling market. As expected, not long after the exhibition, many Zheng people gathered to appreciate his jewelry box. Seeing more and more guests gathered, he was secretly happy and thought that he would make a lot of money. To his surprise, what these Zheng people were interested in was not his jewelry, but the wooden box containing the jewelry. They were two in a pile and three in a group. The topic of discussion was how special the style and beautiful the decoration of the wooden box were. It made him nervous and sweat on his forehead. In order to turn people's attention to the jewelry, the jeweler opened his voice to sell how good and beautiful his jewelry was. However, everyone around him turned a deaf ear and still cared about the wooden boxes full of jewelry. At this time, a man from the state of Zheng picked up the box and studied it carefully. He was so fond of it that he thought of buying it at a high price. The jeweler was thrilled to see that a customer had finally arrived. After some bargaining, Zheng Guoren gave the money to the jeweler and left with the box. But after a few steps, he turned back. The jeweler thought he had changed his mind and wanted to return the jewels. Unexpectedly, the man went up to the jeweler, carefully opened the box, took out the jewels, handed them to the jeweler and said, "I was in a hurry just now, but I didn't find a jewel in the box. You must have put it in there, sir. I'm here to return the jewels. " After returning the jewelry to the jeweler, Zheng Guoren left happily. When he left, he was still muttering in a low voice: "this wooden box is so beautiful. It makes me earn money." The jeweler took the jewels returned by Zheng Guoren and was so surprised that he couldn't shut his mouth. He thought that what the man liked was his jewelry, but he didn't expect that the wooden box he prepared was too exquisite, which made the jeweler laugh bitterly! It seems that I am not suitable for selling jewelry, but more suitable for selling wooden boxes.

The meaning of Idioms

Zheng people's eyes only focused on the exquisite wooden box, and even abandoned the precious jewelry. It can be seen that doing things must be primary and secondary, not like the people who buy a pearl, only pay attention to the appearance of things, can not see the essence of things. Only when we see clearly the essence of things and distinguish the primary and secondary, can we make the right choice. The idiom originally refers to the return of pearls from a wooden box that was bought to hold pearls; it refers to the improper choice in which the secondary things are better than the primary ones.

Use of Idioms

Written usage used as predicate, object and attribute in a sentence; used in written language. from the perspective of modern management, the term "buy an apple and return a pearl" can be used to refer to some bureaucrats who are used to deceiving their superiors and subordinates or the public with formalism. In Song Cheng Yi's handwritten calligraphy with Fang Yuanzhen, there are many people who manage the classics today. However, everyone has the disadvantage of buying a pearl and returning it Zhang yanghao's Yunzhuang manuscripts, one of the poems with feelings of self harmony after reading poems, said: "I have known for a long time that I am good at playing Yu, but I can't afford to laugh." Qiu Tingliang's on vernacular as the foundation of reform in Qing Dynasty: "those who are not good at reading are ignorant of elites but reserved for dross. It's not easy to buy a pearl? If we use vernacular, there will be no such disease. "

Idiom discrimination

The idiom comes from the true meaning of the original almost all dictionaries contain "buy a pearl and return a pearl", and the interpretation is also roughly the same. Ci yuan is interpreted as "improper choice" and Ci Hai as "improper choice". Take the explanation in the Chinese Dictionary of the commercial press as an example: "Han Feizi records that a Chu man put pearls in wooden boxes and sold them in Zheng State. A man of Zheng believed that the box was beautiful, so he bought a wooden box and returned the Pearl to the seller. If you don't make a proper choice, you will catch the minor and lose the major. " The original meaning of Han Feizi is not stated in the above interpretation. From the content of Han Feizi, the Pearl merchant of Chu spent so much money and energy to beautify the Pearl box that Zheng's customers bought the beautiful box instead of the Pearl he wanted to sell. Han Feizi criticizes the Chu man for "being good at selling grains, not pearls", but does not accuse Zheng of "buying grains and returning pearls". The current idioms and their interpretations turn the original book's criticism of Chu people's Jue Zhu into the criticism of Zheng people's buying Jue and returning it. It reverses the original meaning of Han Feizi. Let's see what Han Feizi alleges with this story (and the story of Qin Bai's married daughter). What the original book criticizes is that scholars drown the theory of practical use with exaggerated arguments, and it does not accuse the readers of appreciating the literary grace of its chapters. However, the current idioms and their interpretations turn the original book's criticism of scholars' harmful use of literature into the criticism of the audience's improper choice, which is obviously contrary to the original book's intention. "Han Feizi" has given this fable an accurate name: "Chu people Zhu". Later, people changed it to "buy a pear and return it to a pearl". The so-called name is not regular, and the allegory's plot and theme have changed. It can be seen that the current idiom "buy a cuddle and return a pearl" is a wrong interpretation of Han Feizi, regardless of its name, original meaning or extended meaning. Liu Xie of the Southern Dynasty correctly understood and used this fable in Han Feizi. He said: "in the past, when Qin women married to Jin, they were concubines of Wenyi, and Jin people valued concubines but despised women. Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu and Zheng Chu were concubines of xungui, and Zheng Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu. If Wen Fu is more reasonable than Li, it will be better than Li. " (Wen Xin Diao Long · Yi DUI) the allegory of "Wen Fu is based on Li, and the end is better than the origin" is used here to allege that "Qin Nu married Jin" and "Chu Zhu Zhen", which is in line with the canon and in line with Li. Some people may think that the current idiom "buy a cuddle and return a pearl" and its interpretation have been used for many years, and it has become a convention. Even if this reason can be established, the idiom "buy an apple for a pearl" can not be directly imposed on Han Feizi like the current dictionaries. Instead, the origin, evolution and metamorphosis of this idiom should be truthfully explained, so as not to spread false information and make people laugh.