A man from Zheng saw the box containing the orb exquisite and beautiful. After asking the price, he bought one, opened the box, took out the treasure inside and gave it back to the jeweler.
The original intention of returning pearls is to buy jewelry, leaving only beautiful boxes and no real high-value jewelry. This is a metaphor for short-sighted people. It's from Han Feizi's "On the Left".
Extended data:
Some Chu people sold their pearls to Zheng. They are Mulan's cabinets, preserved with cinnamon, decorated with pearls and jade, and decorated with jade. Zheng bought bamboo slips and returned pearls. It can be said that it is good to sell bamboo slips, but not pearls.
There is a Chu man who sells jewelry in the state of Zheng. He carved a pearl box with precious Mulan, smoked the box with spices made of cinnamon pepper, decorated it with precious stones and jewels, connected it with beautiful jade, decorated it with jade and connected it with kingfisher feathers.
A man from Zheng bought this box, but returned the beads in it to him. It can be said that this jeweler is good at selling boxes, but not good at selling jewelry.
Revelation: Zheng people only pay attention to appearance but not to inner absurdity, and Chu people's lack of priority also makes them afraid to sell pearls. It tells us to proceed from reality.
Han Feizi was born in the thirty-fifth year (about 28 1 year BC) and died in the fourteenth year of Qin Dynasty (233 BC). Han Fei was the son of Han Gongzi (the monarch), the Han nationality, and was born at the end of the Warring States Period (now Xinzheng, Henan).
Learn from Xunzi, a famous philosopher, thinker, political commentator and essayist in ancient China, and a master of legalist thought, later known as "Zi Han" or "Han Feizi", and a representative of China's famous legalist thought in ancient times.
References:
Baidu Encyclopedia-Buy Bamboo Slips and Return Pearls