Better a broken jade than a broken one

Better a broken jade than a broken one

It's better to make jade broken than pottery preserved. This is a metaphor for dying for justice rather than for life.

Idiom explanation

[idiom]: better broken jade than tile [Pinyin]: n ì NGK ě y ù Su ì, B ù n é NGW ǎ Qu á n [explanation]: better broken jade than preserved pottery. This is a metaphor for dying for justice rather than for life.

Idioms and allusions

[source]: biography of Yuan Jing'an in the book of the Northern Qi Dynasty: "a man would rather have his jade broken than his integrity."

Discrimination of words

Better a broken jade than a broken one. Live shamelessly than die. Liu Shaotang's Huajie is better broken than broken than broken. In 550 ad, Emperor Xiaojing of the Eastern Wei Dynasty was forced to abdicate to Prime Minister Gao Yang and was poisoned. Gao Yang also killed his son and all his relatives to uproot them. Later he threatened to kill his distant clan. Yuan Jinghao said, "a man would rather be broken than broken." He would rather be beheaded than change yuan's surname to Gao. He was snitched by Yuan Jingan and killed by Gao Yang. It is said in the book of the Northern Qi Dynasty, biography of Yuan Jing'an: "the elder brother of Chu Yong (father of Yuan Jing'an), Zuo xijue, Chen Liuwang, Zuo Zuo, and his son, Jing HAOSI. When Tianbao (the reign of emperor Gaoyang, Emperor Wenxuan of Qi Dynasty) was founded, most of the emperors who were close to the Yuan Dynasty were slaughtered. The emperor shuzong was like a disciple of Jing'an. He wanted to take the surname of Gao. Jing Hao (cousin Jingan of Yuan Dynasty) said: "should we abandon our clan and chase other surnames? A man would rather be broken than broken. " Jing An then said that Bai Xianzu (referring to Gao Yang) was killed by Jing Hao. His family moved to Pengcheng, and Jing An gave him the surname Gao. " Yuan Jinghao, the cousin of Yuan Jingan, firmly opposed it. He said, "how can we save our life by abandoning our family and taking refuge in his family name? The eldest husband would rather make broken jade than pottery! I'd rather die than change my name. " "Better be a broken jade than a broken one" is a metaphor of sacrifice for integrity. (from the biography of Yuan Jing'an in the book of the Northern Qi Dynasty), Yuan Jing'an told Gao Yang that there were yuan Jing'an and Yuan Jinghao in the imperial court. Gao Yang was very happy. He gave yuan Jing'an the surname Gao, and Yuan Jinghao was killed, which showed his firm support for his personal dignity. Later, the allusion was abstracted, and its meaning was greatly sublimated. It was used as a metaphor to say that he would rather sacrifice or even die for a noble and just cause than for a small profit. It has been used for thousands of years.