During the Western Jin Dynasty, a man named Shi Chong rose from county magistrate to imperial advisor, and at fifty-one, he became the governor of Jingzhou. There, he allowed his soldiers to plunder merchants and seize treasures, amassing a legendary fortune.
Meanwhile, General Wang Kai, the maternal uncle of Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Yan, was himself a man of immense wealth.
Shi Chong and Wang Kai were locked in a fierce rivalry to be known as the wealthiest man in the land, each striving to outdo the other by adorning their carriages and robes with the most extravagant and precious treasures.
Emperor Wu of Jin, aware of the rivalry between Wang Kai and Shi Chong over who could flaunt greater wealth, often backed Wang Kai by bestowing rare and precious imperial gifts upon him.
Once, Emperor Wu of Jin bestowed upon the nobleman Wang Kai a magnificent coral tree over two feet tall, its branches lush and rare. Wang Kai was overjoyed, convinced this imperial gift would finally let him outshine his rival, the wealthy Shi Chong.
One day, Wang Kai deliberately showed off this coral tree to Shi Chong, boasting about it repeatedly. Shi Chong sneered coldly, picked up an iron ruyi, and smashed the coral tree into pieces with a single blow.
Wang Kai, both heartbroken and convinced that Shi Chong had deliberately destroyed the coral out of jealousy for his rare treasure, shouted sternly, "What are you doing? This treasure was bestowed by the emperor—how will you compensate for it?"
Shi Chong replied dismissively, "What's so special about a coral like that? I'll repay you with a better one right away."
After that, he ordered his servants to bring out the coral trees he had stored away, letting Wang Kai see for himself what true wealth looked like.
The servants immediately brought out dozens of coral trees, some three feet tall, others four feet tall, with branches and trunks unmatched in beauty, and six or seven of them were dazzlingly brilliant; as for those similar to the one that had been smashed, there were even more.
Wang Kai was left utterly speechless, his face a picture of stunned defeat.
Later, the idiom "dazzling splendor" came to describe something so bright it dazzles the eyes.
Source: *A New Account of the Tales of the World*, Chapter "Extravagance and Ostentation"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "光彩夺目" came to describe how something so bright it dazzles the eyes.