"I am lamenting not the loss of my feet," said Ho in reply, "but for the calling a precious gem an ordinary stone and for their dubbing an honest man a liar.

[7][page needed] Joseph P. Yap translates the Hanfeizi story with the three Chu kings Li, Wu, and Wen.

[3] The next significant version of Pian He's story is found in Gao You's 212 CE Huainanzi commentary for the passage (below) that compares the Way of Heaven with the Marquis of Sui's pearl and the Heshibi.

A man from Ch'u named Pien Ho found a piece of unpolished jade at the foot of the Ching Mountains.

[8] Beginning with the Zhanguo ce and Shiji, many Chinese histories have discussed the Heshibi, but the early historicity remains uncertain.

During their first audience, Su Qin convincingly explained his Vertical Alliance strategies to Li Yu and said, "You killed your ruler, [i.e., King Wuling of Zhao], and you extirpated his kin, and find your position in the empire as perilous as though you were perched atop a pile of eggs.

Li replied that he could not and followed the attendant's suggestion that he plug up his ears in order to avoid listening to Su's rhetoric.

During the final audience, Li Yu gave Su Qin "a moon pearl [秦明月之珠], the Jade of Ho [和氏之璧], a black sable coat and a hundred pieces of pure gold."

[9] The Han dynasty historiographer Sima Qian's c. 94 BCE Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) relates the history and background of Hr.

However, when Xiangru discovered that Zhaoxiang never intended to give away Qin land, he tricked the king and managed to return the jade annulus back to Zhao.

Concluding that Zhao would never acquire the Qin cities, Xiangru then told the king, "The jade of the Ho Clan [和氏璧] is a treasure that the entire world has transmitted with reverence."

The king agreed, and while he was fasting, Xiangru arranged for his retainer to disguise himself as a commoner, conceal the jade, and safely smuggle it back to Zhao.

When Lin Xiangru arrived, he confessed having secretly sent the jade back to Zhao and then insulted the king's ancestors: "Out of the twenty odd lords of Qin since Duke Mu 穆 (r. 659–621 B.C.

After Xiangru had returned, the King of Zhao praised the skillful diplomacy of his mission to Qin, and appointed him Senior Grand Master.

Dangling moon–bright pearls [明月之珠], you buckle on the sword Taia, are drawn by fine steeds like Xianli, set up phoenix banners blazoned with kingfisher feathers, and employ drums of sacred lizard skin.

If something must be a product of Qin before it can be acceptable, then no night–shining jewels [夜光之璧] would adorn the court chambers, no vessels of rhinoceros horn or elephant tusk would amuse and delight you, no women of Zheng and Wey would throng the harem, and no fine horses and spirited thoroughbreds would fill your stables.

The Qin Chancellor Li Si wrote this inscription in Seal script characters and Sun Shou (孫壽) carved them into the jade.

He was mentioned in numerous classical Chinese texts, and present day Sinophones know the story from traditional chengyu idioms, such as wánbìguīzhào (完璧歸趙, lit.

The following literary examples are divided between using the Heshibi as a trope for something valuable or using it with other legendary treasures such as the Marquis of Sui's pearl.

"[13] "Reckless Remonstrance" says, "Bian He clasps his block of jade and weeps tears of blood [和抱璞而泣血兮] / Where can he find a craftsman good enough to shape it?

(Chapter 14.56)[16] "Thus when your [views] tally with what is essential, you will value what is true and [give] equal [consideration to] the present and the ancient.

(Chapger 11)[18] The 3rd-century Hanfeizi Jie Lao (解老, "Explanations of Laozi") chapter uses He's jade annulus and Sui's pearl in order to differentiate between lǐ (禮, "ritual; ceremony; good form; propriety") and wén (文, "ornamentation; embellishment; elaboration; cultured").

The "Quenching the Light" poem says, "Shards and stones are prized as jewels / Sui and He rejected [捐棄隨和] / The leaden knife is praised for sharpness / Tai E discarded as blunt.

The "Surveying Obscurities" chapter figuratively uses these legendary gems as a simile for someone who has attained the Tiandao (天道, Way of Heaven), "It is like the pearl of Marquis Sui [隨侯之珠] / or the jade annulus of Mr.

He [咼氏之璧] and the jade half-annulus of the Xiahou clan [夏后之璜]," if [courtiers] bow courteously and advance with them, they create harmony and amity.

Other luminous gemstones frequently mentioned with the Heshibi are the Yeguangzhibi (夜光之璧, "night-shining jade annulus") and the Míngyuèzhīzhū (明月之珠, "bright-/luminous-moon pearl").

These ancient Chinese names were sufficiently well known to have been applied to foreign gemstones in the earliest accounts of Daqin (the Roman Empire).

[25] The Heshibi is mentioned in the Huainanzi with the Xiahou clan's semi-circular jade pendant: Xiahoushi zhi huang (夏后氏之璜), which was a jewel supposedly included in the ducal regalia of Lu state.

[26] Xiàhòu (夏后) is a Chinese compound surname from the Spring and Autumn period (771–476 BCE), and the huáng (璜, "semi-circular jade pendant") was anciently used for ritual purposes or as a belt ornament.

The legendary bladesmith Ou Yezi made three swords for King Goujian of Yue, named Tài'ē (泰阿), Lóngyuān (龍渊), and Gōngbù (工布).