"The lights are on at three o'clock and the chicken is on at five o'clock" comes from "Encouraging Learning" by Yan Zhenqing, a poet of the Tang Dynasty.
Original poem:
Encouragement to study
Tang Dynasty: Yan Zhenqing
It is the time for men to study when the lights are on at midnight and the chickens are on at five.
Black-haired people don’t know how to study diligently early, and white-haired people regret studying late.
Translation:
The best time for boys to study is between midnight and the time when the rooster crows.
When I was young, I only knew how to play and didn’t know how to study hard. When I get older, I regret why I didn’t know how to study hard when I was young.
Chicken at dawn: The rooster crows at dawn. Black hair: youth, refers to a teenager. Baishou: The hair is white, which refers to old age. Fang: Talent.
The first two sentences use the description of the learning environment to express that young people should be diligent in studying, and the last two sentences use the change of hair color to express that it is too late to study when they are older. We encourage young people to cherish their youth, study diligently and make a difference. Otherwise, they will achieve nothing and regret it when they grow old.
Extended information
Yan Zhenqing lost his father when he was 3 years old, and his family was in decline. His mother, Yin, had high hopes for him, implemented strict family education, and supervised the school personally. Yan Zhenqing was also extremely studious and studied hard every day. This poem was written by Yan Zhenqing to encourage future generations.
"The lights are on at the third watch and the chicken is on the fifth watch" means that hard-working people and diligent students are still working and studying in the middle of the night. The lights are still on at the third watch, and they turn off the lights and lie down for a short rest. , the rooster crows at the fifth watch, and these hard-working people have to get up and get busy again. The first sentence uses an objective phenomenon to write that it is early, which leads to the second sentence of studying diligently and getting up early.
The third and fourth sentences are about not studying well when you are young, and when you are older, it is too late to learn. The words "black hair" and "white head" in the sentence are metonymic, referring to youth and old age. Through the method of comparison, it is emphasized that reading and learning should be done as early as possible, and not only when you are old and regret it.
From the perspective of study time, Yan Zhenqing advised young people not to waste their time, but to study hard as early as possible to avoid regrets in the future. The poet conceived from the perspective of the meaning, role and attitude of learning, and hoped that people would pay attention to acquired learning in order to strengthen their own behavioral cultivation.
Yan Zhenqing has been admired by generations for his calligraphy. Yan Zhenqing first learned calligraphy from Chu Suiliang, and later from Zhang Xu. He completely broke away from the style of the early Tang Dynasty and created a new calligraphy style of the era. Yan Zhenqing's real calligraphy is majestic and dignified. The characters have changed from the long and thin ones in the early Tang Dynasty to square ones, with circles in the squares and centripetal force.
The brush is thick and strong, and he makes good use of the center stroke. It is muscular and sharp. Generally, the horizontal strokes are slightly thin, and the vertical strokes, dots, strokes and strokes are slightly thicker. This calligraphy style is majestic and powerful, and has the atmosphere of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.