Chinese Idioms - 點石成金

You probably remember the "Midas touch" from Greek mythology. Dionysus gives King Midas the power to turn everything he touches - even his own daughter - into gold. The story tells us that greed is the root of all evil and will bring disaster to the people.

In Chinese culture, there is a similar story: “點石成金(dian shi cheng jin )”.

點dian ：touch
石shi： stone
成cheng： turn into
金jin： gold

This story regards to a legend person 呂洞賓 (Lü Dongbin). 呂洞賓 was a 唐朝(Tang Dynasty) scholar and poet who was elevated to the status of an immortal in the Chinese cultural sphere and was revered by the 道教(Taoists).

There is a man who worships 呂洞賓, and he is so pious that 呂洞賓 is touched, so he decides to show up and give this person a gift. When 呂洞賓 comes to the man's house, he touches a stone, turns it into gold, and says: "You can sell this gold and make some money," but the man says, "No!

呂洞賓 was satisfied with the answer. He thought that the man was honest. Then he asked: "You don't want money, so what do you want? How about being my apprentice? I can teach you everything." The man shook his head and said: "I want your finger!"

Suddenly, 呂洞賓 disappears. The man can only go on living his poor life.

This story, like the Midas touch, is a warning against greed. But the 點石成金 has another meaning. Now we use this idiom to describe some people who can easily make things better, whether it be writing, sculpture, or anything else, they just have to move a finger, and voila! The thing is better than before.

The similar idiom: 化腐朽為神奇 Turn something rotten into something wonderful! Both are about turning ordinary things into masterpieces.

We would use them in this way: 

 這個漂亮的玩偶熊是用我的舊衣服做的？你還真是化腐朽為神奇啊！

 This beautiful cuddly bear is made from my old clothes? you really turn rotten into wonderful!

 而且我還會點石成金呢！那隻熊已經賣掉了！

 I even use it to make money! I already sold it.

When the situation has nothing to do with money, we use this one. But when the situation involves money, we use 點石成金, because the word 金 is related to money.