完璧歸趙

See also: 完璧归赵

Chinese

FWOTD – 24 September 2024

	intact jade; perfect jade; perfect person or object intact jade; perfect jade; perfect person or object; perfection	to return	state of Zhao
trad. (完璧歸趙)	完璧	歸	趙
simp. (完璧归赵)	完璧	归	赵
Literally: “to return the jade disc intact to the State of Zhao”.

Etymology

For the full story behind this idiom, see He Shi Bi.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wánbìguīzhào

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄢˊ ㄅㄧˋ ㄍㄨㄟ ㄓㄠˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyun⁴ bik¹ gwai¹ ziu⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wánbìguīzhào
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄢˊ ㄅㄧˋ ㄍㄨㄟ ㄓㄠˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wánbìgueijhào
    • Wade–Giles: wan²-pi⁴-kuei¹-chao⁴
    • Yale: wán-bì-gwēi-jàu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wanbihgueijaw
    • Palladius: ваньбигуйчжао (vanʹbigujčžao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wän³⁵ pi⁵¹ ku̯eɪ̯⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂɑʊ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jyun⁴ bik¹ gwai¹ ziu⁶
    • Yale: yùhn bīk gwāi jiuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jyn⁴ bik⁷ gwai¹ dziu⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: yun⁴ big¹ guei¹ jiu⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyːn²¹ pɪk̚⁵ kʷɐi̯⁵⁵ t͡siːu̯²²/

Idiom

完璧歸趙

1. to return something to its owner in good condition
   • 1989 June 1, 严卫民, “古稀老翁爱收藏”, in People's Daily‎^[1]:

     國民黨時期，他把這些有“通共”嫌疑的藏品藏在屋頂瓦片下。到了文革，他家中財物被抄，但他的藏品因早幾天交博物館保存，藏在山洞裏才免遭劫難。1979年“完璧歸趙”後，吳老先生感上海博物館妥善保管之恩，將5000多張精品獻給了該館。 [MSC, trad.]
     国民党时期，他把这些有“通共”嫌疑的藏品藏在屋顶瓦片下。到了文革，他家中财物被抄，但他的藏品因早几天交博物馆保存，藏在山洞里才免遭劫难。1979年“完璧归赵”后，吴老先生感上海博物馆妥善保管之恩，将5000多张精品献给了该馆。 [MSC, simp.]

     Guómíndǎng shíqī, tā bǎ zhèxiē yǒu “tōnggòng” xiányí de cángpǐn cáng zài wūdǐng wǎpiàn xià. Dào le Wéngé, tā jiāzhōng cáiwù bèi chāo, dàn tā de cángpǐn yīn zǎo jǐtiān jiāo bówùguǎn bǎocún, cáng zài shāndòng lǐ cái miǎn zāo jiénàn. 1979 nián “wánbìguīzhào” hòu, wú lǎoxiānshēng gǎn shànghǎi bówùguǎn tuǒshàn bǎoguǎn zhī ēn, jiāng 5000 duō zhāng jīngpǐn xiàn gěi le gāi guǎn. [Pinyin]

     During the Kuomintang era, he hid his collection suspected of being "pro-Communist" under the roof tiles. During the Cultural Revolution, his home was ransacked, but since he had handed over his collection to the museum for safekeeping a few days earlier in a mountain cave repository, the collection was spared. In 1979 Shanghai Museum returned it intact to Mr. Wu. Appreciating their careful preservation, the old gentleman donated over 5,000 valuable pieces to the museum.

Related terms

• 璧還／璧还 (bìhuán)