他山之石可以攻玉

lit. the other mountain's stone can polish jade (idiom); to improve oneself by accepting criticism from outside / to borrow talent from abroad to develop the nation effectively

he; him (used for either sex when the sex is unknown or unimportant) / (used before sb's name for emphasis) / (used as a meaningless mock object) / (literary) other

mountain / hill / anything that resembles a mountain / CL:座[zuo4] / bundled straw in which silkworms spin cocoons / gable

(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]) / him / her / it

surname Shi / abbr. for Shijiazhuang 石家莊|石家庄[Shi2 jia1 zhuang1]

dry measure for grain equal to ten dou 斗 / ten pecks / one hundred liters

rock / stone / stone inscription / one of the eight categories of ancient musical instruments 八音[ba1 yin1]

dry measure for grain equal to ten dou 斗[dou3]; one hundred liters / ancient pr. [shi2]

can / may / able to / to approve / to permit / to suit / (particle used for emphasis) certainly / very

used in 可汗[ke4 han2]

can / may / possible / able to / not bad / pretty good

old variant of 以[yi3]

old variant of 以[yi3]

abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4]

to use / by means of / according to / in order to / because of / at (a certain date or place)

to attack / to accuse / to study

jade