📖 Meaning
This idiom uses gold and jade as metaphors for beauty and excellence. It describes writings whose form and content are both flawless and perfect. It can also describe a person whose appearance and character are both outstanding.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the preface to 'Li Sao' (《离骚序》) written by Wang Yi of the Han Dynasty. In praising Qu Yuan's masterpiece 'Li Sao,' Wang Yi wrote that it possesses the quality of gold and jade, unparalleled through a hundred generations, its fame enduring endlessly and never to be erased. The expression has since been used to commend works of literature that achieve perfection in both style and substance.
💡 Example Usage
这篇散文金相玉质，堪称当代散文的典范之作。
This essay is perfect in both form and substance, truly a model work of contemporary prose.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 金相玉质
- Pinyin: jīn xiàng yù zhì
- Literal Translation: gold, appearance, jade, substance
- Category: Quality
- Characters: 4