Returning the Jade Intact (Intermediate)

Returning the Jade Intact

Reading level: Intermediate

When the King of Qin offers fifteen cities for a priceless jade, the King of Zhao sends a little-known retainer named Lin Xiangru to Qin — and Lin must bring the treasure home intact. A graded Chinese retelling of a famous contest of courage and wit.

战国后期，秦国最强，常常用武力威胁别的国家。赵惠文王的时候，赵国得到了一块楚国的宝玉——“和氏璧”。

秦昭王听说了，派人送信给赵王，说愿意用十五座城来换这块玉。赵王和大臣们商量了很久：给玉，怕秦国说话不算数；不给，又怕秦国借机出兵。

宦官缪贤推荐了自己的门客蔺相如。蔺相如对赵王说：“秦国强大，我们不给玉，是我们理亏；如果给了玉而秦国不给城，那就是秦国理亏。我愿意带着玉去：城交过来了，玉就留下；城不交，我一定完璧归赵。”

蔺相如到了秦国，秦昭王在章台接见他，态度很随便。他拿到玉以后，只传给身边的妃子和侍从看，大家连声称赞，却始终不提割让十五座城的事。

蔺相如上前说：“这块玉上有一点瑕疵，请让我指给大王看。”秦王信以为真，把玉交还给他。蔺相如立刻退到柱子旁，怒发冲冠，说如果秦国不给城，他就把玉和自己的头一起撞碎在柱子上。

秦王怕他真的砸玉，连忙道歉，还叫人拿来地图，指给他看那十五座城。蔺相如看出秦王只是在做样子，便要求秦王斋戒五天，再以最隆重的礼节接受这块玉。

秦王只好答应。蔺相如却知道秦国一向不守信用，当天夜里就让随从把玉藏在身上，从小路悄悄送回赵国。

五天以后，蔺相如在朝堂上从容地说：“我怕被大王欺骗，对不起赵国，已经把玉送回去了。秦国如果真的先割城，赵国绝不敢留下这块玉。”秦国君臣面面相觑，最终没有杀他，放他回国。蔺相如因为这件事被赵王封为上大夫。

Sources

Records of the Grand Historian (史记 · 廉颇蔺相如列传), by Sima Qian, c. 91 BC — Principal source for Lin Xiangru’s mission to Qin and the He Shi jade; a public-domain classical text.

Han Feizi (韩非子 · 和氏), by Han Fei, 3rd century BC — Public-domain pre-Qin text telling the origin of the He Shi jade and the story of Bian He of Chu.

History and legend

That Zhao possessed the He Shi jade and that Qin sought it is the framework of the story told in Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian, written about two centuries after the events, in the joint biography of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru; the episode is traditionally dated to about 283 BC, though the precise year is uncertain and the dialogue is the historian’s literary reconstruction. The jade’s origin, told in the Han Feizi as the story of Bian He of Chu, belongs to legend rather than documented history. Lin’s pledge “完璧归赵” appears in the Shiji, but the four-character idiom became a set phrase only in later centuries. The Chinese retelling and English translation on this page are our own.