📖 Meaning
To pass off stone as jade, flaunting something worthless as if it were precious. It is a metaphor for words not matching actions — claiming one thing while doing another, or advertising quality while delivering inferior goods.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase traces to the Han dynasty scholar Yang Xiong, who wrote in his work 'Fa Yan' (Model Sayings), chapter 'Wen Dao' (Asking about the Way): 'Those who flaunt jade but sell stone — are they not deceitful?' Later, the Song dynasty Neo-Confucian Cheng Hao echoed the idea in his 'Discussion of the Distinction between the Kingly Way and the Hegemonic Way,' writing: 'If one seeks to achieve the kingly way with the heart of a hegemon, that is flaunting stone as jade.' Over time the idiom came to describe hypocrisy — claiming virtue or quality while practicing the opposite.
💡 Example Usage
这家店炫石为玉，把劣质品当珍品出售。
This shop flaunts stone as jade, selling shoddy goods as if they were treasures.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 炫石为玉
- Pinyin: xuàn shí wéi yù
- Literal Translation: flaunt, stone, as, jade
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4