pāo zhuān yǐn yù
抛 砖 引 玉
Explanation: A metaphor that means one might offer some rough idea or essay first, in order to draw out other people's better or more mature ideas.
Tone: Positive
The Story: In the Tang Dynasty, there was a poet named Zhao Gu--he was very intelligent. One year, he went to Su Zhou, where a local poet Chang Jian was always admiring his literary talent. In order to get Zhao Gu's attention, Chan Jian wrote 2 stanzas on the wall of the Lingyan Temple. When Zhao Gu visited the temple and saw the unfinished poem, he completed it by adding another 2 stanzas, as expected.
As Zhao Gu's part was better than Chang Jian's, later people described this kind of action as 'throwing a brick to attract jade'.
In modern life, you can easily find many ways to use this idiom!
抛砖引玉，出自《传灯录》。相传唐代诗人常建，听说赵嘏要去游览苏州的灵
岩寺。为了请赵嘏作诗，常建先在庙壁上题写了两句，赵嘏见到后，立刻提笔续写
了两句，而且比前两句写得好。后来文人称常建的这种作法为“抛砖引玉”。此计
用于军事，是指用相类似的事物去迷惑、诱骗敌人，使其懵懂上当，中我圈套，然
后乘机击败敌人的计谋。“砖”和“玉”，是一种形象的比喻。“砖”，指的是小
利， 是绣饵； “玉”，指的是作战的目的，即大的胜利。“引玉”，才是目的，
“抛砖”，是为了达到目的的手段。钓鱼需用钓饵，先让鱼儿尝到一点甜头，它才
会上钩； 敌人占了一点便宜，才会误入圈套，吃大亏。
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