Chinese characters and pinyin
Simplified: 礼尚往来
Traditional: 禮尚往來
Pinyin: lǐ shàng wǎng lái
Literal translation
Propriety values mutual exchange.
Natural English meaning
Courtesy and kindness should be reciprocated.
Closest English equivalent
Courtesy calls for reciprocity.
English has no equally compact everyday equivalent; ‘one good turn deserves another’ is close but less focused on etiquette.
When to use it
Use it for reciprocal visits, gifts, or polite gestures.
When not to use it
Do not reduce every relationship to strict accounting.
Example sentence
他们去年请我们吃饭，今年我们回请，礼尚往来。
They hosted us last year, so this time we return the courtesy.
Origin and cultural context
Derived from a discussion of reciprocal rites in the Book of Rites.
Classification: idiom. This label distinguishes a complete proverb or popular saying from a compact idiom or a quotation preserved from a classical text.
