"Buy a gift and return the pearl" is an idiom, which means that when you get a pearl, you return it to an empty tripod, which shows that you don't understand the value of an item and don't know how to cherish it.
The story was originally from Zhuangzi Waipian Travel to the North: someone bought a priceless pearl in the market. When he walked out of the market, he saw a big tripod full of rice, so he put pearls in it and took them home. His friend thought that the beads should not be put on a tripod, but in a silver box, so he told him.
Only then did he realize his mistake and ran back to the market, trying to find the person who sold the tripod, returning it and replacing it with pearls. However, the tripod seller had found the pearl and took it away, so he had to buy back the empty tripod and lost the pearl.
This allusion reflects that a person does not know how to cherish, so he loses something of value. Therefore, "buying gifts and returning pearls" is widely used in various occasions, which means missing an opportunity, wasting an opportunity, or destroying a valuable thing for no reason.
Buy a gift and return the pearl to make a sentence:
1. On the road of life, many people make the mistake of "buying gifts and returning pearls" because of their own impulses and desires. Some people pursue short-lived glitz and vanity, often get lost in their own desires, and finally lose their core values and real pursuits. What's more, their wife and children are separated and can't go home.
2. The behavior of government departments is often criticized as "buying gifts and returning pearls" because they often take superficial solutions to social problems and do a lot of image projects and face projects instead of fundamentally solving problems. This method will only make the problem worse in the end.
3. Education is an important way to inherit culture and cultivate talents, but sometimes education will fall into the misunderstanding of "buying gifts and returning pearls". In order to improve students' grades in a short time, some schools and educational institutions have adopted irresponsible educational methods, which will only lead to the students' ability not being substantially improved and ultimately not getting real benefits.