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报之以琼琚

報之以瓊琚
bàozhīyǐqióngjū
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 repay it with a jade pendant
  2. 2 (fig.) to return a kindness with something far more precious than was given
  3. 3 (lit.) repay it with jade-pendant

Examples

投我以木瓜，报之以琼琚，朋友之间礼尚往来。
Tóu wǒ yǐ mùguā, bào zhī yǐ qióngjū, péngyǒu zhījiān lǐ shàng wǎnglái.
'She threw me a quince; I repay her with a jade pendant' — between friends, gifts come and go in courtesy.
他受人恩惠，总想报之以琼琚。
Tā shòu rén ēnhuì, zǒng xiǎng bào zhī yǐ qióngjū.
Having received others' kindness, he always hopes to 'repay it with a jade pendant.'

Tips

history
From 《诗经·卫风·木瓜》(Classic of Poetry, 'Guofeng' of Wei, ~8th–7th c. BCE), one of the earliest Chinese gift-exchange poems: 投我以木瓜，报之以琼琚。匪报也，永以为好也 (She threw me a quince; I repay her with a jade pendant. Not as requital — as a pledge of lasting friendship forever). The poem has three parallel stanzas (木瓜/木桃/木李 paired with 琼琚/琼瑶/琼玖). It is the origin of the common idiom 投桃报李.
usage
Always read with 投我以木瓜 — the pair is the saying. 琼琚 = a jade ornament; both characters carry the 王 radical (= jade). The reading is jū (not qū) for 琚.

Stroke Order

报 bào
之 zhī
以 yǐ
琼 qióng
琚 jū