Zuo Si, a native of Linzi (now Linzi, Zibo), was a famous writer in the Western Jin Dynasty.
Zuo Si's family studied Confucianism from generation to generation and had a strong family atmosphere. His father Zuo, from an early age, educated Zuo Si and Zuo Fen. But Zuo Si was naughty when he was a child and didn't like reading. He studied the calligraphy of Zhong You and Zhao Hu, and also learned the drum set, but without success. Zuo Xi said to his friend, "Zuo Si doesn't know and understand as well as I did when I was a child. It seems that there is not much promise. " Xiao Zuosi was very sad to hear that. He felt it was hopeless that he didn't study hard, so he made up his mind to study hard.
Day after day, year after year, Zuo Si grew up gradually. Thanks to his persistent study, he finally became a knowledgeable person, and his articles were very good. When he was a teenager, he wrote Qi Du Fu, which shows his literary talent. Later, I forgot to sleep and eat, devoted myself to research, and spent ten years writing Sandu Fu with the customs and products of the capitals of Wei, Shu and Wu in the Three Kingdoms as the content. For a time, wealthy aristocratic families rushed to circulate and copy, resulting in a paper shortage in Luoyang, the capital, and the price rose sharply.
This is the origin of the idiom "Luoyang paper is expensive".
Extension:
Zuo Fen, Zuo Si's sister, is also brilliant and famous for her literary talent, but she is ugly. Sima Yan, the emperor of Jin Dynasty, appreciated her works before she was taken into the harem. In the eighth year of Taishi (AD 272), it was named a rest, and later it was named Guidi. The world called it Princess Zuo Yi. Sima Yan is very satisfied with her talent in ci and fu, and often praises her: "What she says is meaningful, and when she talks to Tsinghua, it is beautiful from left to right."