To buy a box and return the pearls found inside
Used to indicate one has poor judgement
Negative
我认为你修改这篇作文，是买椟还珠，取舍失当，把最能说明论点的那一段删掉了 | Wǒ rènwéi nǐ xiūgǎi zhè piān zuòwén, shì mǎidúhuánzhū, qǔshě shīdàng, bǎ zuì néng shuōmíng lùndiǎn de nà yīduàn shāndiào le
You really showed poor judgement and understanding when editing this essay. You deleted the paragraph that best explained the whole point.
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《韩非子》(Hán Fēi Zǐ), a book of philosophy authored by 韩非 (Hán Fēi) during the Warring States Period (475 - 220 BC)
During the Warring States period (475 - 221 BC), there was a salesman from the state of 楚国 (Chǔ Guó) who traveled to the state of Zhèng Guó (郑国) in order to sell pearls. He wanted a good price for his jewels, and he figured that this would happen if he sold them in beautiful boxes, so he started pulling out all the stops. He painstakingly carved patterns into his boxes, scented them with incense, and even inlaid them with precious metals. When he was finally done, he placed the jewels inside the boxes and headed to the market.
It wasn't long before the gorgeous boxes attracted customers. It also wasn't long before the salesman realized that he'd miscalculated: one customer came by, purchased a box, plucked out the pearls, returned them to the salesman, and then happily departed with the box in tow.