{"path":"/entry/101496","title":"买椟还珠 / 買櫝還珠 (mǎi dú huán zhū) — Chinese Dictionary | Flashbao","description":"买椟还珠 / 買櫝還珠 (mǎi dú huán zhū): to buy a wooden box and return the pearls inside. Explore meanings, example sentences and vocabulary decks.","catalog":null,"deck":null,"entry":{"reading":{"id":101496,"orthography":{"forms":{"SIMPLIFIED":["买椟还珠"],"TRADITIONAL":["買櫝還珠"]}},"phonetic":"mǎi dú huán zhū","phoneticKey":"mai3 du2 huan2 zhu1","meanings":{"primary":[{"qualifier":null,"synonyms":[{"segments":[{"dim":false,"runs":[{"kind":"TEXT","text":"to buy a wooden box and return the pearls inside","orthography":null,"phonetic":null,"phoneticKey":null,"readingId":null}]}]}]},{"qualifier":null,"synonyms":[{"segments":[{"dim":false,"runs":[{"kind":"TEXT","text":"to show poor judgment ","orthography":null,"phonetic":null,"phoneticKey":null,"readingId":null}]},{"dim":true,"runs":[{"kind":"TEXT","text":"(idiom)","orthography":null,"phonetic":null,"phoneticKey":null,"readingId":null}]}]}]}],"additional":[],"notes":[],"variantMeanings":[]},"classifiers":[],"pos":["VERB"],"frequency":null,"grammar":[],"spokenPhonetic":null},"otherReadings":[],"examples":[],"carriedReadings":[{"orthography":{"forms":{"SIMPLIFIED":["还"],"TRADITIONAL":["還"]}},"phonetic":"huán","primaryPhonetic":"hái"}],"constructions":[],"status":null,"due":null,"reps":null,"lapses":null,"lastReview":null,"senses":[],"origins":[{"literal":"to buy a wooden box and return the pearls inside","content":[{"type":"paragraph","text":{"simplified":"From Han Feizi, Chapter 32 (《韓非子·外儲說左上》). Originally meant to criticize those who put too much rhetoric into their writings, causing people to be impressed with their words but miss their useful ideas.","traditional":null}}],"examples":[{"text":{"simplified":"楚人有卖其珠于郑者，为木兰之椟，薰以桂椒，缀以珠玉，饰以玫瑰，辑以翡翠。郑人买其椟而还其珠。此可谓善卖椟矣，未可谓善鬻珠也。","traditional":"楚人有賣其珠於鄭者，爲木蘭之櫝，薰以桂椒，綴以珠玉，飾以玫瑰，輯以翡翠。鄭人買其櫝而還其珠。此可謂善賣櫝矣，未可謂善鬻珠也。"},"phonetic":"Chǔ rén yǒu mài qí zhū yú Zhèng zhě, wéi mùlán zhī dú, xūn yǐ guìjiāo, zhuì yǐ zhūyù, shì yǐ méiguī, jí yǐ fěicuì. Zhèng rén mǎi qí dú ér huán qí zhū. Cǐ kěwèi shàn mài dú yǐ, wèi kěwèi shàn yù zhū yě.","english":"Once upon a time a man of Chu was selling pearls in Zheng. For the pearls he made magnolia boxes, which he perfumed with cassia spice, bound with beads, decorated them with red gems, and filled harmoniously with the kingfisher's feather. In the long run people in Zheng bought the caskets but returned the pearls. This may be said to be good in selling caskets but cannot be said to be good in trading pearls.","ref":"Han Feizi, circa 2ⁿᵈ century BCE, translated based on W. K. Liao's version"}],"senseScoped":false}],"decks":[{"id":27,"sourceName":"Chengyu","name":"Chengyu"}],"vocabularyScale":null,"vocabularyLevel":null}}