The four absolutely refers to the four literati images at the end of The Scholars.
Xia Ji wrote in the New Year that Mrs. Wang sold fire extinguishers, built a spacious teahouse and became a tailor in Jingyuan. However, they are proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting respectively, economically independent, spiritually willful, free, elegant and refined, and live a life of "not greedy for wealth, not waiting for people, not recognizing heaven and not caring about land".
The characterization of these four legendary figures
These four strange people are the embodiment of the elegant life of intellectuals, the illusion created by the author's mind, the popularization of literati, the life path designed by the author for a new generation of literati and the pursuit of perfect personality.
The book "The Scholars" depicts a world where "The Scholars" is not recorded by the official history.
It not only has a profound theme, but also reaches a high level in novel art. It hides the sharp edge of irony in the revealing and intriguing narrative. Through calm and vivid description, it describes the characters and secular style in both form and spirit.