Chinese idiom · 成语
昆山片玉
Meaning
A piece of jade from Kunshan; a rare and precious talent.
Character by character
Origin and story
historicalThe Book of Jin (晋书) records Xi Shen's confident assessment of his own abilities. At a farewell gathering before he took up a provincial appointment, Emperor Wu asked what he thought of himself. Xi Shen replied that his answers in the selection examination had ranked first, comparing himself to a branch from a grove of cassia trees and a piece of jade from Mount Kun.
A parallel account quoted in the Taiping Yulan (太平御览) records the emperor laughing at the exchange. The jade image singles out something precious from an already distinguished source. 昆山片玉 later became praise for exceptional talent or a rare treasure.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
在老师眼里，这位年轻的作曲家堪称昆山片玉，值得好好培养。
In the teacher's eyes, this young composer is a rare talent worth carefully nurturing.
Strong literary praise for an outstanding person or a precious rarity.