引玉之砖

Traditional form:

引玉之磚

Pinyin (reading):

yǐnyùzhīzhuān

Definitions:

• lit. a brick thrown to prompt others to produce a jade (idiom)
• fig. a modest suggestion intended to prompt others to come forward with better ideas

Characters:

• 引 - to pull, to stretch; to draw; to attract
• 玉 - jade, gem, precious stone
• 之 - marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; to go to
• 砖 - tile, brick

Traditional characters:

• 引 - to pull, to stretch; to draw; to attract
• 玉 - jade, gem, precious stone
• 之 - marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; to go to
• 磚 - tile, brick