Skip to content
shí 拾 jīn 金 bù 不 mèi 昧

拾金不昧 shí jīn bù mèi

to return found money or property; honesty with lost property

Literally: pick-up gold not hide

Beginner 🧭 Character & virtue
🃏 Practise beginner chengyu

Tap a character above to see its stroke order and the words it appears in.

Origin

Descriptive; no single source story. Attested in Qing dynasty fiction as a phrase of praise.

How to use it

Predicate or attributive; positive. Often 拾金不昧的好人 / 他拾金不昧.

Example sentences

Show:

Tap any word for its meaning and pinyin. The chengyu is highlighted.

  1. 小学生拾金不昧，把钱包交给了警察。
    Xiǎoxuéshēng shí jīn bù mèi, bǎ qiánbāo jiāogěi le jǐngchá.
    The primary school pupil didn't keep the money he found and handed the wallet to the police.
    primary-student pick-up gold not hide, (object marker) wallet hand-to (particle) police
  2. 报纸上说了一个拾金不昧的故事，大家都很感动。
    Bàozhǐ shàng shuō le yī gè shí jīn bù mèi de gùshi, dàjiā dōu hěn gǎndòng.
    The newspaper told a story about someone returning lost money, and everyone was very moved.
    newspaper on tell (particle) one (measure) pick-up gold not hide (particle) story, everyone all very moved

More chengyu about character & virtue

All character & virtue chengyu →