切磋琢磨

·  “切磋琢磨” is a Chinese idiom meaning “to polish and develop each other’s learning and virtues.”

 

Originally, it was used to mean the process of cutting (切), grinding (磋), polishing (琢), and polishing (磨) jade, bone, or stone, and to mean developing one another’s learning or character. In other words, it means that friends or colleagues point out each other’s shortcomings, encourage each other, and grow together.

It is mainly used to mean “developing each other’s learning or virtue”, **“polishing each other’s character”**, and is often quoted in situations that emphasize development through cooperation, competition, and stimulation, as well as individual effort.

“A gentleman must polish and polish each other with his friends.”

(Gunjapilyeojeoltakmaya, 君子必與磋琢磨也)

In this way, polishing and polishing is not about working alone, but rather emphasizing the attitude of learning and teaching from each other and growing together with others. “The term ‘processing and polishing’ means cutting, grinding, polishing, and rubbing things like jade, bone, and stone to make them beautiful. It is used to mean working together to cultivate learning or virtue.”