Meaning: I went out with my sword and looked up to the sky laughing, because those who left and those who stayed were sincere and upright, just like the majestic Kunlun Mountains.
"I am smiling to the sky with my horizontal sword, leaving behind my liver and gallbladder" comes from "Inscriptions on the Wall in Prison" written by Tan Sitong, a modern reformist politician and thinker.
Original text:
I looked at the door and stopped thinking about Zhang Jian, and endured death for a moment to wait for Du Gen; I smiled at the sky with my horizontal sword, leaving my liver and gallbladder intact.
Translation:
When I see someone’s home, I come to stay at their home. I hope that Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, who have fled, can be protected by people like Zhang Jian. I also hope that my comrades can endure death and wait to complete the great cause of reform like Dugan. I walked out with my sword and looked up to the sky laughing, because those who left and those who stayed were honest and upright, just like the majestic Kunlun Mountains. Extended information
"Prison Wall" is a seven-character quatrain written by the modern reformist politician and thinker Tan Sitong in prison in the 24th year of Guangxu's reign (1898).
The first two sentences of this poem use allusions from Zhang Jian and Du Gen to expose the viciousness of the die-hards and express their longing and expectations for the reformers. The last two sentences express the author's awe-inspiring righteousness and ambition. The style of this poem is tragic and exciting, and the style is vigorous and powerful.
This poem expresses praise and blessing for the reform leaders who escaped from disaster, and hatred and contempt for the stubborn forces that obstructed the reform. It also expresses the heroic feelings of the poet who is willing to devote himself to his ideals.
The sentence "Looking at the door and thinking of Zhang Jianzhi" is an allusion to Tan Sitong who was in prison and worried about the safety of Kang Youwei and others who had fled in a hurry. I pray privately: Like Zhang Jian, they will probably be accepted and protected by those who support the reform.
"He endured death for a moment and waited for Du Gen", which is a story about a righteous man who criticized officials in the Eastern Han Dynasty and expressed the great justice in a subtle way. Through the use of Zhang Jian's allusion and Empress Dowager Deng's allusion to Cixi, the events are exactly the same. There is both a denunciation of the brutality of suppressing the reformers and an affectionate hope for the reformers' comeback.
This sentence mainly means that although the Reform Movement of 1898 has suffered a heavy blow at the moment, as a benevolent person who is determined to eradicate the old and establish the new, he should have high aspirations and endure death to survive. Waiting for the opportunity, hoping to achieve great things again.
"I am smiling to the sky with my horizontal sword" is a continuation of the previous two sentences: If Kang and Liang Zhujun can escape safely and wait for the danger, then it is not a pity for me, Tan, to live in a mere life. When facing the bloody butcher knife calmly, he laughed to the sky. "Let the devil's palace shake with laughter." The poet Tan Sitong was well prepared for death.
When the coup happened, his comrades repeatedly urged him to take refuge in the Japanese embassy, ??but he flatly refused. It was precisely because he was determined to die that he was able to remain calm and regard death as home.
"If you want to stay or go, you will lose your liver and gallbladder." Tan Sitong had his own opinions on the issue of whether to stay or go. On the second day of the coup, Tan could not be arrested, so he went to the Japanese Embassy to see Liang Qichao and persuaded him to travel east to Japan.
He said: "If there are no practitioners, there is no plan for the future; if there are no dead, there is no reward for the Holy Lord. The life and death of Nanhai (Kang Youwei) today is uncertain. Cheng Ying, Chujiu, Yuezhao, Xi I will share the responsibility with my subordinates."
He was willing to follow the example of "Tao" (the great cause of reform, national interests) and "righteousness" (the righteousness of the emperor and his ministers, the righteousness of comrades). Gongsun Chujiu in "The Orphan of Zhao" and Xixiang Xingjie, a good friend of the monk Tsuzuki in the late Tokugawa shogunate, used personal sacrifice to fulfill the sacred cause in their hearts, and used their own bravery to repay Emperor Guangxu's kindness. .
At the same time, he also hopes that his passion can awaken all living beings who are living in peace and inspire a revolutionary wave of reform and improvement. In his opinion, this great posthumous cause depends entirely on the promotion and leadership of Kang and Liang who are on the run.
Based on this understanding, he gave a lofty and positive evaluation to his colleagues who were divided into two positions: those who left, those who stayed. Although the journey is different, the goal is the same and the value is the same. Just like the two peaks of Kunlun Mountain, they stand side by side and each leads the way.
Reference material: Inscriptions on the wall in prison - Baidu Encyclopedia