During the Spring and Autumn period, a man named Bian He from Chu clutched a rough jade block at the foot of Mount Jing, weeping bitterly. Years earlier, he had found this stone and presented it to King Wu of Chu as a priceless treasure. The king, seeing only an ordinary rock, accused him of deceit and cut off his left foot. After King Wu died, Bian He offered the stone to King Wen, who also dismissed it as a fraud and severed his right foot. When King Cheng later ascended the throne, Bian He dared not approach the court again. Instead, he went to Mount Jing and wailed for three days and nights until his eyes bled.
When King Cheng learned of this, he immediately sent for Bian He.
King Cheng asked, "Are you grieving because your feet were cut off?" Bian He replied, "No, I am saddened that no one recognizes this as a precious jade and no one understands my good intentions." The king pressed, "Is it truly a piece of jade?" Bian He answered, "How would I dare deceive Your Majesty?" King Cheng then ordered a jade artisan to chisel away the stone's outer crust, revealing a luminous, flawless gem. It was enshrined as a national treasure, and the world came to call it the "He Family Jade."
During the Warring States period, the legendary He family jade fell into the hands of King Huiwen of Zhao. When King Zhao of Qin learned of this, he desperately wanted it and sent a letter falsely offering fifteen cities in exchange. Knowing it was a trick but too afraid to refuse due to Qin's power, King Zhao consulted his ministers, including General Lian Po, and ultimately sent Lin Xiangru, a retainer of the eunuch chief Miao Xian, to handle the matter. In the Qin court, Lin Xiangru threatened to smash the jade against a pillar, declaring, "If Your Majesty breaks his promise, I will shatter both this jade and my head!" Through wit and resolve, he managed to return the jade intact to Zhao.
Later, from the *Records of the Grand Historian* phrase "willing to exchange fifteen cities for the jade," came the idiom "a jade worth many cities," used to describe something extremely precious.
Source: *Han Feizi*, "He Shi" and *Records of the Grand Historian*, "Biographies of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "连城之璧" came to describe how something extremely precious.