"Returning The Jade Intact To Zhao"
The jade disc, unfortunately, was stolen from Chu and eventually sold to Zhao; in 283 BC, King Zhaoxiang of Qin offered 15 cities to the State of Zhao in exchange for the jade (this is the origin of the Chinese saying 价值连城, 'Valued at multiple cities'). Zhao Minister Lin Xiangru was dispatched to send the jade to Qin. When it became clear that Qin would not uphold its side of the bargain, he tricked the king of Qin, claiming that the jade had a scar on it. The marquess of Qin said he could not find it, and handed it to Lin Xiangru and asked him where the scar was. The moment Lin Xiangru took the jade, he threatened to smash the jade unless the king of Qin promised to delay the swap 3 days. Secretly he told his servants to take the jade back to the king of the Zhao . Thus giving birth to another Chinese idiom, 完璧歸趙, literally meaning 'Returning the Jade Intact to Zhao', but extended to mean 'returning something to its rightful owner'.
Read more about this topic: He Shi Bi
Famous quotes containing the words returning, jade and/or intact:
“Politeness is as much concerned in answering letters within a reasonable time, as it is in returning a bow, immediately.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“Do not pray for gold and jade and precious things; pray that your children and grandchildren may all be good.”
—Chinese proverb.
“When I can no longer bear to think of the victims of broken homes, I begin to think of the victims of intact ones.”
—Peter De Vries (b. 1910)