合浦还珠 — “To recover something lost”

合浦还珠 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to recover something lost”. To have a person who left return, often referring to things or people of great value. Literally, “Pearls returned to Hepu”.

Frequency

合浦还珠 Pronunciation and Pinyin

合浦还珠 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
合	hé	6	combine, fit, or total
浦	pǔ	10	river mouth
还	huán	8	still, also, return, repay
珠	zhū	10	Pearl or bead

Example Sentence with 合浦还珠

我们家的传家宝失窃多年，没想到如今竟能合浦还珠，真是喜出望外！

Our family heirloom was stolen many years ago, and we never expected it to be recovered now; it's truly an unexpected joy!

Origin and Story of 合浦还珠

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Hepu Commandery was renowned overseas for its abundant pearls. Local people made a living by pearl diving. Corrupt officials took advantage of this to exploit the pearl divers, which led to excessive harvesting. Consequently, the pearl oyster population dwindled, and many pearl divers starved to death.

Emperor Shun of Han, Liu Bao, dispatched Meng Chang to serve as the Prefect of Hepu.

Meng Chang reformed the corrupt practices and strictly prohibited indiscriminate harvesting. In less than a year, Hepu once again became abundant with pearls.