抛砖引玉 — “To cast a brick to attract jade; to throw a brick to get jade”

The idiom 'Pao Zhuan Yin Yu' (抛砖引玉), literally 'casting a brick to attract jade,' has several legendary origins. One story involves the Tang Dynasty high monk, Chan Master Congshen, who presided over Guanyin Monastery in Zhaojun for many years. He was known for his extremely strict requirements for his disciples' meditation practice, demanding that everyone sit quietly, calm their minds, and focus intently, utterly disregarding any external disturbances to achieve a state of deep concentration, free from thoughts and physical movement. One evening, during the monks' late meditation session, Chan Master Congshen deliberately said, 'Tonight, for those who can answer and comprehend the Dharma, step forward.' At this point, all the disciples were supposed to be sitting cross-legged, eyes closed, calm and still. However, one young monk, unable to contain himself, presumed to be the one to answer and stepped out to bow. Chan Master Congshen glanced at him and slowly remarked, 'I just 'threw a brick to attract jade,' but what I drew out was merely a mud slab, even worse than a brick!'

Another well-known story, recorded in historical anecdotes like 'Lidai Shihua' and 'Tanzheng,' concerns the Tang Dynasty poet Zhao Gu. He was famous for his excellent line, 'A long flute sounds, a person leans on a tower,' which earned him the admiration of the great poet Du Mu. People even called Zhao Gu 'Zhao Yi Lou' (Zhao of Leaning on the Tower). At that time, another poet named Chang Jian, who greatly admired Zhao Gu's poetic talent, heard that Zhao Gu had arrived in the Wu region. He anticipated that Zhao Gu would visit Lingyan Temple, so he went ahead to Lingyan and inscribed two lines of poetry on the temple's front wall, hoping Zhao Gu would see them and complete the poem. Indeed, when Zhao Gu visited Lingyan Temple and saw the two lines on the wall, his poetic inspiration was ignited, and he spontaneously added two more lines, completing a full quatrain. Chang Jian's lines were not as good as Zhao Gu's; he used his inferior poetry to elicit Zhao Gu's superior work. This act later became known as 'Pao Zhuan Yin Yu.'

However, it is worth noting that Chang Jian and Zhao Gu were not contemporaries, living about a hundred years apart. Thus, the story of them completing a poem together is historically inaccurate. Nevertheless, this anecdote became so famous that it is recognized as one of the origins of the idiom 'Pao Zhuan Yin Yu.'