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During the Tang Dynasty, renowned poets Yuan Zhen, Liu Yuxi, and Wei Chuke were guests at Bai Juyi's residence. They decided to each compose a poem titled “Recalling Jinling.”
Liu Yuxi completed his poem in one sitting, capturing the essence perfectly.
Yuan Zhen and the others were deeply impressed, lamenting, “The four of us set out to explore the black dragon, but you were the first to pluck the pearl. What use are our remaining scales and horns now?!”
Feeling that their efforts would be futile in comparison, they abandoned their pens and instead enjoyed drinking and socializing.

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Open the tool →探骊获珠 (tàn lí huò zhū) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to delve deep into a subject or literary work and grasp its essence or most valuable part; to extract the key point or core idea”.
探骊获珠 is pronounced tàn lí huò zhū in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 探骊获珠 means “explore the black dragon and obtain a pearl”. It is used to mean “to delve deep into a subject or literary work and grasp its essence or most valuable part; to extract the key point or core idea”.
探骊获珠 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
骊:黑龙。《庄子·列御寇》记载:有个靠编织蒿草帘为生的人潜入深水,得一颗价值千金的珠。比喻诗文写作抓住了关键