A thousand gold coins in return for a meal
A generous reward given in return for receiving one's assistance or favor
Neutral
受恩图报，这是中国人的传统美德，韩信一饭千金的故事，可以说是一段佳话 | Shòu ēn tú bào, zhè shì zhōngguórén de chuántǒng měidé, hánxìn yīfànqiānjīn de gùshì, kěyǐ shuō shì yī duàn jiāhuà
Repaying kindness is a traditional virtue of the Chinese people. Han Xin's story of "yi fan qian jin" can be said to be a beautiful and widespread [example]
[Source]
None
None
In the story below, the general 韩信 (Hán Xìn) is promoted to king (王, wáng). At the time, this was the highest rank of nobility that could be bestowed by the emperor
《史记》(Shǐ Jì), or the famous work "Records of the Grand Historian" by 司马迁 (Sī Mǎ Qiān).
韩信 (Hán Xìn) was a famous general who helped 刘邦 (Liú Bāng) found the Hàn Dynasty (汉, 206 BC - 220 AD). When he was young, both of his parents died, and he was left destitute. He often found himself without anything to eat, and to solve this, he often would fish in the river outside the city. However, the fish rarely took the bait, and he frequently left hungrier than he had come.
Sometimes when he fished, he would run into a group of old ladies that cleaned cotton in the same river. One day, one of the old ladies took pity on him and gave him her meal, and she continued to do so several times afterwards.
韩信 was greatly moved by the woman's kindness, and he told her that he would repay her.
His words aggravated the lady. "Repay?" she scoffed. "You can't even look after yourself, so how could you go on about repaying me? Besides, I didn't do this to get something in return!"
Ashamed, 韩信 took steps to improve his life, and eventually he joined the military. There, he proved invaluable to the triumphs of 刘邦, and he was eventually granted the rank of king.
One day, when he was sitting in his kingly quarters, he thought of the woman who had fed him by the river. He realized that he could repay her as he had wanted to, and he ordered his men to send her food and wine, along with one thousand gold pieces as a sign of his gratitude.