History records that one year, Boya was ordered by the King of Jin to be an envoy to the State of Chu. On August 15th, he took a boat and arrived at the mouth of Hanyang River. Encountering wind and waves, we anchored at the foot of a hill. At night, the wind and waves gradually calmed down, the clouds opened and the moon rose, the scenery was very charming. Looking at the bright moon in the sky, Yu Boya became very excited about the piano. He took out the piano he brought with him and started playing it with concentration. He played one song after another. Just when he was completely immersed in the beautiful sound of the piano, he suddenly saw a man standing motionless on the shore.
Bo Ya was startled. He exerted force with his hand, and with a "pop" sound, one of the strings was plucked. Boya was guessing why the people on the shore were coming, when he heard the man say to him loudly: "Sir, don't be suspicious. I am a firewood collector. I came home late. When I came here, I heard you playing the piano. I thought the sound of the piano was so wonderful that I couldn't help but stand here and listen." Boya took a closer look in the moonlight and saw that there was a load of dry firewood beside the man. It turned out to be a firewood collector. Boya thought: How can a woodcutter who collects firewood understand my piano? So he asked: "Since you know the sound of the piano, please tell me what kind of music I am playing?"
After hearing Boya's question, the man collecting firewood He smiled and replied: "Sir, what you just played was Confucius's praise of his disciple Yan Hui. Unfortunately, when you played the fourth sentence, the string broke." The firewood man's answer was quite right, and Bo Ya couldn't help but be overjoyed. , hurriedly invited him on board to discuss in detail. When the woodcutter saw the harp played by Boya, he said, "This is the Yao harp! According to legend, it was made by Fu Xi." Then he told the origin of the Yao harp. After hearing what the woodcutter said, Boya couldn't help but admire him secretly.
Bo Ya then played a few more songs for the woodcutter and asked him to identify the meaning. When the sound of the piano he played was majestic and high-pitched, the woodcutter said: "This sound of the piano expresses the majesty of the mountains." When the sound of the piano became fresh and smooth, the woodcutter said: "The sound of the piano that he played next expressed the majesty of the mountains." The sound expresses the endless flowing water."
Bo Ya couldn't help being surprised. No one could understand what he expressed with the sound of the piano in the past, but the woodcutter in front of him actually listened. It has to be clear. Unexpectedly, under this wild ridge, he would meet the soulmate he had not been looking for for a long time, so he asked the firewood collector's name Zhong Ziqi and started drinking with him. The more they talked, the more they became more and more speculative. They hated meeting each other so late, and became sworn brothers. They agreed to meet here again during the Mid-Autumn Festival next year.
In the Mid-Autumn Festival of the second year after he and Zhong Ziqi parted in tears, Boya came to the mouth of the Hanyang River as promised, but he waited and waited, but Zhong Ziqi never came to keep his appointment, so he played the piano. I came to summon this close friend, but after a long time, no one came. The next day, Boya asked an old man about Zhong Ziqi's whereabouts. The old man told him that Zhong Ziqi had unfortunately died of illness. Before his death, he left his last words that he would build his tomb by the river so that when we meet on August 15th, we can listen to the sound of Yu Boya's piano.
After hearing what the old man said, Boya was extremely sad. He came to Zhong Ziqi's grave and played the ancient song "High Mountains and Flowing Waters" sadly. After playing, he broke the strings, sighed, and broke his beloved Yao Qin on the bluestone. He said sadly: My only soulmate is no longer alive, who else can I play this piano for? "
The friendship between the two "bosom friends" moved future generations, and people built a guqin stand where they met. To this day, people still often use "bosom friends" to describe the friendship between friends. .
Psalms passed down by the two people through the ages: The phoenix tail is broken and the phoenix tail is cold, no one is playing it in the spring breeze! It is difficult to find a close friend in the high mountains and flowing water. Bo Ya!
Bo Ya was a native of Yingdu (now Jingzhou, Hubei Province) of Chu State during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Although he was a senior official in Jin State, he was proficient in playing the piano and met his bosom friend. The story happened when he was on his way back to visit relatives. This story was first handed down orally among the people. There is no precise record in ancient books in the book "Liezi" written by Lie Yukou of Zheng Dynasty in the Warring States Period. Folktale.
After research, Boya’s original surname is Bo. It is said that his surname is Yu Mingrui and his given name is Boya. It is a fabrication in the novel by Feng Menglong, a novelist in the late Ming Dynasty. According to historical records, Zhong Ziqi was a native of Jixian Village, Hanyang. , the villagers were proud of Ziqi, and a slang word was passed down from word to mouth: "Ziqi met Boya, and his friends were passed down through the ages."
"In the Ming Dynasty, Feng Menglong compiled "Jingshi Tongyan" and went to Hanyang to explore the origins of the lost people. Because the "Yu" in the Hanyang dialect "Ziqi Yu Boya" has the same pronunciation as "Yu", they both have the same pronunciation. After getting rid of the sound, he wrote: "Ziqi met Boya, and his close friends passed down through the ages." "Misunderstood" as "Zi Qi Yu Boya", a close friend passed down through the ages. "Bo Ya has become Yu Boya in Feng Menglong's works - "Yu Boya Throws His Qin to Thank His Bosom friend", collected in "Words to Warn the World".