收买

• Pinyin: shōu mǎi
• Hanzi breakdown: 收 = 丩 + 攴 (to take in, receive); 买 = 网 + 贝 (to buy — acquiring through payment, originally exchanging for shell currency)

Meaning

To buy over; to bribe; to win someone's loyalty through material inducements. To corrupt or co-opt someone with money or favours.

Carries a distinctly negative connotation — it implies illegitimate influence, corruption, or manipulation through material means. Used in legal and ethical discourse for bribery (收买证人 — bribing a witness), in political commentary for co-opting loyalty (收买民心 — buying public support through populist handouts), and in commercial contexts for hostile headhunting. Contrast: 贿赂 (to bribe — more formal and legal in tone); 争取 (to win over — neutral, through persuasion or effort, without corrupt intent).

Examples

1. 检察机关的起诉书详细列明了被告以现金、名贵手表和境外旅游机会等方式分批收买多名政府审批人员的具体经过，涉案金额累计超过八百万元。 The procuratorate’s indictment подробно spelled out how the defendant, in multiple rounds, bribed several government approval officials with cash, luxury watches, and opportunities for overseas travel, with the total amount involved exceeding 8 million yuan.
2. 古代统治者常以赐田封爵收买边疆豪族，换来短暂安稳，但这种利益交换形成的忠诚十分脆弱。 In ancient times, rulers often used land grants and noble titles to win over powerful frontier clans, buying a brief period of stability—but loyalty built on trading benefits was extremely fragile.
3. 该公司被竞争对手以远超市价的薪酬待遇收买了核心技术团队中的三名骨干研发人员，导致一项已接近量产阶段的专利技术随之外泄。 The company had three key R&D members of its core technical team bought off by a competitor with compensation far above market rates, causing a patent technology that was close to mass production to be leaked as well.

Usage Guide

Context: law, politics, business, corruption, ethics

Tone: critical

Do Say

• 反腐败法律明确将收买国家工作人员列为行贿罪要件，并严惩行贿者和受贿者。(Anti-corruption law explicitly treats bribing state employees as an element of bribery and severely punishes both the giver and the receiver.)
• 分析人士指出，候选人用小恩小惠收买基层选民，只会削弱选举公信力，扭曲政治文化。(Analysts point out that candidates who buy off grassroots voters with petty favors only weaken electoral credibility and distort political culture.)

Don't Say

• 收买 to mean a legitimate business acquisition or purchase — use 收购 (to acquire/buy out — a company or asset); 收买 carries a strong connotation of corrupt intent and is inappropriate for neutral commercial transactions

Origin & History

收 (to take in, to receive) + 买 (to buy — 网 net + 贝 shell/money, suggesting acquiring through exchange)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal