1. Three Moves of Meng’s Mother
Mencius’s mother is known as Meng’s Mother. When Mencius was a child, he lived very close to the cemetery. Mencius learned some things like worship and played the game of funeral arrangements. His mother said: "This place is not suitable for children to live."
So the family moved to the market, and Mencius learned some things about trading and slaughter. The mother thought again: "This place is still not suitable for children to live in." She moved her family next to the academy.
Mencius learned the etiquette of bowing and advancing and retreating in the court. Meng's mother said: "This is where the children should live." She settled down here. When Mencius grew up, he learned the six arts and gained the reputation of a great Confucian.
2. Wang Xianzhi practicing calligraphy
Wang Xianzhi is the seventh son of Wang Xizhi. He was smart and studious since he was a child. He specializes in calligraphy, cursive script and official script, and is also good at painting. He began to learn calligraphy when he was seven or eight years old, learning from his father.
Once, Wang Xizhi saw Xianzhi practicing calligraphy attentively, so he quietly walked behind him and suddenly reached out to pull out the brush in Xianzhi's hand. Xianzhi held the brush firmly and did not pull it out. His father was very happy and praised: "This son will be famous again."
After hearing this, Xiao Xianzhi was very pleased with himself. Another time, a friend of Xizhi asked Xianzhi to write on the fan, and Xianzhi started writing with a pen. Suddenly, the pen fell on the fan, polluting the words. Xiao Xianzhi had an idea, and a calf came to life on the fan.
In addition, everyone was full of praise for Xianzhi's calligraphy and painting, which made Xiao Xianzhi feel proud. Xianzhi's parents looked at this scene thoughtfully.
One day, Xiao Xianzhi asked his mother Xi: "I just need to write for three more years, right?" Her mother shook her head. "Have you been headquartered for five years?" Mom shook her head again.
Xian Xian became anxious and said to his mother: "How long do you think it will take?" "You have to remember that after writing about the 18 tanks of water in the courtyard, your words will have muscles. Only when you have bones, flesh and blood can you stand upright and firmly." Xianzhi turned around and found that his father was standing behind him.
Wang Xianzhi was dissatisfied and said nothing. He gritted his teeth and practiced for another five years. He showed his father a lot of written words, hoping to hear a few words of praise.
Unexpectedly, Wang Xizhi turned over them one by one, shaking his head. When he came across the word "big", his father showed a more satisfied expression, casually filled in a dot under the word "big", and then returned all the manuscripts to Xian.
Xiao Xianzhi was still dissatisfied, so he showed all the calligraphy exercises to his mother and said: "I have been practicing for another five years, and I have practiced them exactly according to my father's calligraphy. Take a closer look, I How is it different from my father's character?"
As expected, my mother looked at it carefully for three days, and finally pointed to the dot Wang Xizhi added under the character "大", sighed and said, "My son After grinding all three tanks of water, there is only one thing like Xi Zhi." After hearing this, Xianzhi became discouraged and said feebly: "How difficult it is! If this continues, when will there be any good results?" His arrogance had disappeared, so he encouraged him and said: "Son, as long as you practice hard, there is no river that you can't cross or a mountain that you can't climb. As long as you practice unremittingly like you have in recent years, you will definitely achieve your goal!" "?
Xianzhi was deeply moved after listening to it, and continued to practice perseveringly. Hard work paid off, Xianzhi used up 18 large tanks of water to practice calligraphy, and made rapid progress in calligraphy. Later, Wang Xianzhi's calligraphy also reached the level of being able to penetrate the back of the paper and become so perfect that his calligraphy and Wang Xizhi's handwriting were juxtaposed and were called the "Two Kings".
3. Cut off to Yanbin
Tao Kan had great ambitions when he was young, but his family was very poor and he lived with his mother Zhan. Fan Kui, a native of the same county, had always been very famous and was recommended as Xiaolian. He once visited Tao Kan's house as a guest. At that time, the ground had been covered with ice and snow for many days, and Tao Kan's family had nothing.
But Fan Kui has many chariots, horses and servants. Tao Kan's mother, Zhan, said to Tao Kan: "Just go outside and keep the guests, and I will figure it out myself." Zhan's hair was very long, and it dragged to the ground. She cut it off and made it into two wigs. rice. He also cut half of each pillar to make firewood, and chopped up the straw mats to make fodder for the horses.
In the evening, fine food and drinks were served, and there was no shortage of followers. Fan Kui not only appreciated Tao Kan's intelligence and eloquence, but also felt deeply grateful for his hospitality. The next morning, Fan Kui said goodbye, and Tao Kan sent him one way after another, almost to a hundred miles away.
Fan Kui said, "We have gone a long way. It's time for you to go back." Tao Kan still refused to go back. Fan Kui said, "It's time for you to go back. When I get to Luoyang, Kyoto, I will give you a good word." Tao Kan then went back.
When Fan Kui arrived in Luoyang, he praised Tao Kan in front of Yang Hui, Gu Rong and others, which made him widely known.