Chinese Idiom：完璧归赵 (wán bì guī zhào)

In the Warring States Period (zhàn guó 战国,481 - 386BC),Zhao Wang (zhao wang 赵王),the King of the State of Zhao (zhào guó 赵国) got an extraordinarily fabulous jade from someone. Qin Wang (qín wáng 秦王) the ruthless ruler of the state of Qin (qín guó 秦国),who reigned a far more powerful country,also wanted the rare treasure badly,promising to exchange it with 15 cities.

It posed a thorny issue for Zhao Wang since he knew the personality of Qin Wang very well. The great chance were that he would obtain the jade without giving out 15 cities. However,given the strong militatry power of the state of Qin, Zhao Wang just couldn’t turn him down. Zhao Wang and his officials weren’t able to figur out a proper solution to deal with the stiky issue even after several discussions. At that critical point,one offical strongly recommended one of his bold and talented retainers named Lin Xiang ru (lìn xiàng rú 蔺相如),as an envoy to the State of Qin. Zhao Wang interviewed Lin in person some days later. In the face of the king,Lin pledged that he would bring the jade back to the state of Zhao intact. Zhao Wang nodded with broad smiling on his face.

Later,Lin arrived in the state of Qin,presenting the shining jade to Qin Wang. Putting the treasure in his palm,qinwang was totally involved in appreciating it,almost forgot the surroundings. After through that ,he passed the jade to his officials and imperial concubines for seeing,without showing any attempt to give 15 cities as he previously pledged to do.
Wating for a long time,Lin was pretty angry and feeling humiliated,thinking about how to handle this tough situation. Suddenly,one idea jumped into his mind. He stepped forward ,saying:"my respectful king,there are some tiny flaws within the jade,let’me show you." Qin Wang handed the jade to Lin without hesitation.

As soon as he got the jade,Lin run to one of the pillars in the palace,shouting to Qin Wang:"Oh, my king,you are just enjoying yourself in apprecating the jade,not even bothered to mention the contract you pledged before,Which obviously demonstrating your insincerity. Thus,I made my mind to take back the jade.I 'll pumped myself rashily to the pillar along with the jade in the case you urged me to give you the jade." Being scared of the ruin of the jade,Qin Wang apologized to Lin instantly and asked his subsidiary to bring a piece of map,showing the 15 cities that he planned to present to the state of Zhao,plus,he added that he would set up a very formal and grand ceremony to pay his tribute to Lin’s coming.

Lin saw throuh Qin wang 's plot at once. In that night,he instructed one of his soldiers ,in shabby clothes,to send the jade back to the state of Zhao as quickly as possible. Several days later,Lin told Qin Wang during the banquet:"I ‘ve already sent the jade to the state of Zhao after sensing your insincerity. Nevertheless,don’t be nervous my king,I’m not trying to break the contract as you might perceived so. As we all admit that,the state of Qin is incomparaet to the state of Zhao. once you hand over the cities,we are not dare to refuse to give you the jade.Well,I knew clearly that what I did are due to offend you. So,please boil me to death for the wrong doing I commited.”

Small wonder,Qin Wang flied into rage the instant he heard the statement,but he had no alternative but to let Lin go. If he killed Lin,not only did he won't obtain the jade,but aslso would devastate the realationshipbetween the state of Zhao and the state of Qin.Therefore,Lin retruned to his hometown also intact.

Atfer ward, “to return the jade intact to the State of Zhao” is used to refer giving back sonmting incontact to its owner.


战国时候，赵王得到了一块名贵宝玉“和氏璧”。这件事情让秦国大王知道了，他就写了封信，派人去见赵王，说秦王愿意用十五座城来换那块宝玉。

赵王看了信，心里想，秦王一向是只想占便宜，不肯吃亏的人。这一次怎么这么大方呐？要不答应吧，怕秦国兴兵来进攻，要答应吧，又怕上当。他想来想去拿不定主意，就跟大臣们商量。大臣们也想不出什么好办法来。 蔺相如知道了，对赵王，说：“大王，让我带着‘和氏璧’去见秦王吧，到那里我见机行事。如果秦王不肯用十五座城来交换，我一定把‘和氏璧’完整地带回来。”赵王知道蔺相如是个又勇敢又机智的人，就同意他去了。

蔺相如到了秦国，秦王在王宫里接见了他。蔺相如双手把“和氏璧”献给秦王。秦王接过来左看右看，非常喜爱。他看完了，又传给大臣们一个一个地看，然后又交给后宫的美女们去看。蔺相如一个人站在旁边，等了很久，也不见秦王提起割让十五座城的事儿，知道秦王根本没有用城换宝玉的诚意。可是宝玉已经到了秦王手里，怎么才能拿回来呢？他想来想去，想出了一个计策，就走上前去，对秦王说：“这块‘和氏璧’看着虽然挺好，可是有一点小毛病，让我指给大王看。”秦王一听有毛病，赶紧叫人把宝玉从后宫拿来交给蔺相如。

蔺相如拿着“和氏璧”往后退了几步，身子靠在柱子上，气冲冲地对秦王说：“当初大王差人送信给赵王，说情愿拿十五座城来换赵国的‘和氏璧’。赵国大臣都说，千万别相信秦国骗人的话，我可不这么想，我说老百姓还讲信义呐，何况秦国的大王哩！赵王听了我的劝告，这才派我把‘和氏璧’送来。方才大王把宝玉接了过去，随便交给下面的人传看，却不提起换十五座城的事情来。这样看来，大王确实没有用城换璧的真心。现在宝玉在我的手里。如果大王硬要逼迫我，我情愿把自己的脑袋跟这块宝玉一块儿碰碎在这根柱子上！”说着，蔺相如举起“和氏璧”，对着柱子，就要摔过去。

秦王本来想叫武士去抢，可是又怕蔺相如真的把宝玉摔碎，连忙向蔺相如赔不是，说：“大夫不要着急，我说的话怎么能不算数哩！”说着叫人把地图拿来，假惺惺地指着地图说：“从这儿到那儿，一共十五座城，都划给赵国。”蔺相如心想，秦王常常会耍鬼把戏，可别再上他的当！他就跟秦王说：“这块‘和氏璧’是天下有名的宝贝。我送它到秦国来的时候，赵王斋戒了五天，还在朝廷上举行了隆重的送宝玉的仪式。现在大王要接受这块宝玉，也应该斋戒五天，在朝廷上举行接受宝玉的仪式，我才能把宝玉献上。”秦王说：“好！就这么办吧！”他就派人送蔺相如到宾馆去休息。

蔺相如拿着那块宝玉到了公馆里。就叫一个手下人打扮成一个买卖人的样儿，把那块宝玉包着，藏在身上，偷偷地从小道跑回到赵国去了。至于秦王会把他怎么样，他一点也没有考虑。

后来秦王发觉这件事，后悔已经来不及了，想发兵攻打赵国吧，赵国在军事上作了准备，怕打不赢。最后秦王只好放蔺相如回到赵国去。这件事情在历史上就叫作“完璧归赵”。直到今天，人们谈起这段故事来，还对蔺相如的英勇行为翘大拇指哩。

完璧归赵 (wán bì guī zhào)
【翻译】to return the jade intact to the State of Zhao.
【释义】本指蔺相如将和氏璧完好地自秦送回赵国。后比喻把原物完好地归还本人。
【例句】我们寝室的姐妹今天要参加一个晚会，借走了我的项链，并答应明天一定完璧归赵。
【近义词】物归原主
【反义词】支离破碎