Send goose feathers from thousands of miles away
During the Tang Dynasty, local officials often had to pay tribute to the emperor with gifts. There was a local official in a remote area who sent a man named Mian Bogao to pay tribute to the swans.
Mian Bogao walked on the road for many days, and the swan's feathers were all dirty. Mian Bogao came to Mianyang Lake, opened the cage and let the swan take a bath. The swan spread its wings and flew away, leaving only a few feathers behind. Uncle Mian was so anxious that he cried by the lake. He calmed down and thought about it, picked up a feather, and took it to Chang'an.
Mian Bogao followed envoys from various places to pay homage to the emperor. He watched as the envoys presented expensive gifts to the emperor one by one. When it was Mian Bogao's turn, he presented him with a white feather.
Mian Bo sang: "To contribute to the Tang Dynasty, the mountains are high and the roads are far away. Mianyang Lake is lost, so I fall to the ground crying... The courtesy is light and the intention is heavy, and the goose feathers are sent thousands of miles away."
Tang Dynasty The emperor said he was smart and rewarded him with gifts. This is where the idiom "sending goose feathers from thousands of miles away" comes from.
Love in mouth and sword in belly
During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Linfu was a famous traitor. He has no virtue or talent, but he is a veteran of flattery. The stupid emperor actually made him the prime minister.
Yan Tingzhi, the assistant minister of Zhongshu, has an upright character and is very contemptuous of Li Linfu. Li Linfu then spoke ill of Yan Tingzhi in front of the emperor. Tang Xuanzong believed it to be true and immediately demoted him to Luoyang.
After a long time, Tang Xuanzong mentioned Yan Tingzhi to Li Linfu again. Li Linfu saw that Xuanzong wanted to promote him, so he asked someone to tell Yan Tingzhi that the emperor asked about his illness. Yan Tingzhi wrote to the emperor requesting to go to Beijing for treatment. Xuanzong learned that Tingzhi was ill and gave up the idea of ??reusing him.
Folks say that Li Linfu has "honey in his mouth and a sword in his belly". Described as sweet-tongued, treacherous and sinister, he is also called "a sweet-mouthed person with a sharp sword in his belly".
The flowers are bright and the willows are dark
Lu You is a famous patriotic poet in the Southern Song Dynasty. His poems expressed his patriotic sentiments against the Jin Dynasty, and he was once appreciated by Xiaozong, so he entered the court and became a military officer. However, the capitulation faction in the court squeezed him out in every possible way and kept writing to the emperor, falsely accusing him of spending all his time admiring flowers and reciting poems instead of doing his job. The emperor listened to Lu You's side, and as a result, Lu You was abandoned.
Full of anger, Lu You returned to his hometown of Shaoxing to live leisurely. One day, Lu You went to Shanxi Village to visit friends. When his friends and neighbors heard about Lu You's visit, they all received him warmly, and every household prepared wine and banquets to welcome him. Lu You was very moved by the simple folk customs. He became very popular in poetry and wrote the poem "Visiting Shanxi Village". There are two sentences in the poem:
There is no way out despite the mountains and rivers, and there is another village with dark willows and bright flowers.
The poem not only depicts the scene of nature, but also expresses the poet's hope for the future. "A bright willow blooms under a dark willow" was later used to describe a sudden change in the environment; it can also be used as a metaphor for encountering a turning point in difficulties and finding a solution to a problem in a complicated situation.
The virtuous internal assistant
Yan Ying was the prime minister of Qi Jinggong during the Warring States Period. He was not very tall. It is said that he was less than six feet long (equivalent to four feet and three inches today), but he was very talented. , famous among the princes, one day Yan Ying went out and sat in a carriage, driven by his charioteer (carriage driver). The charioteer's wife was very virtuous. When the charioteer drove his car and passed the door of his house, his wife peeped through the crack in the door and saw her husband waving his riding whip, looking very proud of himself.
When her husband came home that night, she scolded him and said: "Yan Ying is less than six feet tall. He has become the prime minister of Qi State and is famous all over the world. All the princes of all countries know about him. Admire him. I think his attitude is still very humble and not complacent at all. You are eight feet tall and much more majestic in appearance. You only serve as his driver, and you are still very proud and look very proud, so you You will not be prosperous and can only do menial jobs. I feel really embarrassed for you! amp; uot;
After listening to his wife's words, the emperor's attitude gradually changed, and he seemed humble and kind everywhere. Yan Ying saw that the emperor suddenly became humble, and felt very strange, and asked him the reason; The man told Yan Ying honestly what his wife had said.
Yan Ying recommended him to become a doctor because he could change things immediately after hearing advice and was a person worthy of promotion.
From this story of a virtuous wife, later generations extended it to compliment people who have virtuous wives. Today, most people call a wife a helpful wife if she can help her husband, make progress in his career, studies, and character, and increase his status in society.
Self-defeating
During the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a painter named Sun Zhiwei who specialized in figure painting. Once, he was commissioned by Shouning Temple in Chengdu to paint a picture of "Nine Yao Xingjun". He carefully sketched the pictures with pens, making the characters lifelike, with flowing clothes and belts, just like fairy postures. Only the last step of coloring was left. Just at this time, some friends invited him to have a drink. He put down his pen and looked at the painting carefully for a while. Feeling quite satisfied, he said to them: "I have drawn all the lines of this painting, and only the coloring is left. You must be careful not to paint the wrong colors. I went to a friend's house for something. When I come back, I hope you have finished the painting."
After Sun Zhiwei left, we gathered around the painting and watched the teacher's brush strokes over and over again. The skills and overall composition are superb, and they exchange ideas with each other.
Some people said: "Look at how lifelike the Shui Nuan Xingjun looks, with his long beard flowing freely, not angry but powerful."
Others said: "The auspicious clouds around the feet of the Bodhisattva are , The real divine appearance makes people awe-inspiring.”
Among them, there is a man named Tong Renyi who is usually clever and likes to impress others. He is the only one who pretends not to say a word.
Someone asked him: "Why don't you speak? Is there something missing in this painting?"
Tong Renyi pretended to be profound and said: "The boy next to Shui Nuan Xingjun is very expressive. , but the crystal bottle in his hand seems to be missing something."
The crowd said: "I didn't find anything missing."
Tong Renyi said: "Every time the teacher draws a bottle, he always has something missing. I drew a flower in the vase, but there wasn’t one this time. Maybe I was in a hurry to go out and didn’t have time to finish it. Let’s finish it and then color it.” Tong Renyi said and carefully drew a flower on the mouth of the vase. Gorgeous red lotus.
Sun Zhiwei came back from a friend's house and found a lotus flower growing out of the bottle in the boy's hand. He said angrily and laughed: "Who did this stupid thing? If it was just superfluous, it would be self-defeating." Well. The bottle in the boy's hand is the demon-suppressing bottle used by Shui Nuan Xingjun to subdue the water monster. If you add lotus flowers and turn the bottle into an ordinary vase, wouldn't it be a big joke?" He said, tearing up the painting. It was shattered.
Everyone looked at Tong Renyi and bowed their heads in silence.
Working hard
Li He, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, began to write poems and articles at the age of seven, and he was very talented. As an adult, he hoped that the imperial court would reuse him. However, he never succeeded in success, so he had to devote his depressed mood to the creation of poems. Every time he went out, he asked the book boy to carry a bag. As soon as he was inspired and came up with a few good poems, he would immediately write them down and reorganize and refine them when he returned home. The mother always said distressedly: "My son has put all his energy and effort into writing poetry, and he really has to make his heart vomit before he stops!"
Li He in his short 26 years During his 20-year career, he left behind more than one poem, which he composed with his lifelong efforts. Han Yu, a litterateur in the Tang Dynasty, once wrote two lines of poetry: "Cut the liver to use as paper, drain the blood to use as writing." That is to say, dig out the heart and liver to use as paper, and use the blood to write articles.
Later, people often used the metaphor of "painstaking efforts" to describe extremely hard work.
Snatching and plundering
Mi Youren (zi Yuanhui), the son of the great calligrapher and painter Mi Fu of the Song Dynasty, has a good family background and, like his father, is good at writing. He is good at calligraphy and painting, and especially loves the works of ancient people. Once, when he saw Wang Xizhi's calligraphy on someone else's boat, he was so happy that he immediately wanted to exchange it for a good painting. The owner didn't agree, so he screamed in panic, climbed onto the side of the boat and jumped into the water. Fortunately, someone else quickly hugged him to prevent him from falling into the water. He has a great ability, that is, he can imitate the paintings of the ancients.
When he was in Lianshui, he once borrowed a "Picture of a Pine Cow" from someone to sketch. Later, he kept the original copy and returned the copy to someone else. The person didn't notice it at the time, and it wasn't until many days later that he came to ask for the original copy. Mi Youren asked him how he could tell, and the man replied: "The eyes in the real book have the shadow of the shepherd boy, but the one you returned to me does not." However, Mi Youren imitated the paintings of the ancients, and it was very difficult to see the shadow of the shepherd boy in the eyes. Less noticed. He often tried every possible means to borrow ancient paintings from others to copy them, and after he finished copying them, he would always give them to the masters together with the samples and the originals, asking the masters to choose for themselves. Because of his skill in imitating ancient paintings, his masters often took the models back as authentic ones. As a result, Mi Youren obtained many valuable authentic ancient paintings.
Mi Youren is a talented artist who deserves to be admired by people, but his act of imitating fake copies in exchange for other people's authentic copies is despised and despised by others. Therefore, some people called his behavior of using clever methods to defraud others of authentic ancient paintings "snatching". Later people extended it to the idiom "snatching", which is used to describe people who use unfair and clever methods to steal. Property that you don’t deserve. "Taking skillfully" means defrauding; "plundering" means seizing something. And using this method to seize property is often convenient and the gain is a lot, so there is a saying that "theft is clever, so the gain is a lot" (see "Qingbo"). For example: a magic stick who uses a sacred object as a cover often makes up a clever name, pretends to do Buddhist rituals, and defrauds ignorant people of their property. This is "snatching and plundering".
Three Lives of Fortune
There was a monk in the Tang Dynasty, Guoze, who had profound attainments in Buddhism. He was very close to his friend Li Yuanshan. One day, the two of them went on a trip together. Passing by a place, I saw a woman fetching water from the river. The woman had a big belly and was pregnant. Yuanze pointed at the woman and said to Li Yuanshan: This woman has been pregnant for three years and is waiting for me to be reincarnated as her son, but I have been avoiding her. Now that I see her, I can no longer avoid her. Three days later, this woman has given birth. At that time, please go to her house and have a look. If the baby smiles at you, it will be me. Take this smile as proof! Wait until the thirteenth year, on the moonlit night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, I will wait for you at Tianzhu Temple in Hangzhou, and then we will meet again. amp;uot;After they separated, Yuantan died on this night, and the pregnant woman also gave birth to a boy. On the third day, Li Yuanshan took care of Yuanze and went to the woman's house to visit. The baby actually smiled at the ground. On the moonlit night of the Mid-Autumn Festival after the thirteenth year, Li Yuanshan arrived at Tianzhu Temple as scheduled for a visit. As soon as he arrived at the gate of the temple, he saw a shepherd boy sitting on the back of a cow, watching and singing, and said: amp;uot; The soul of old love is on the Sansheng Stone, admiring the moon and chanting Don't talk about the wind. I feel ashamed that my lover is visiting me from afar. Although the opposite sex always exists in this body. amp; uot;
Nowadays, most people often use metaphors to express special fate. Or if friends meet by chance or in special circumstances, become close friends, and can help themselves, they will be praised as "three lives of good fortune".
The world is full of peaches and plums
This idiom is found in "Zizhi Tongjian·Tang Zehou·Jiushi First Year": "All the peaches and plums in the world are at Gongmen."
When Wu Zetian was emperor in the Tang Dynasty, there was a prime minister named Di Renjie, named Huaiying, who was from Taiyuan (now Shanxi). This man was highly virtuous and respected, and he dared to speak out and give advice, which was deeply appreciated by Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian called him "Guo Lao" (Di Renjie was already over eighty when Wu Zetian came to the throne) instead of calling him by his first name. Even when he went to court, Wu Zetian would not let him kneel down, saying, "My whole body hurts when I see Duke Di bow down." Wu Zetian often said to other ministers: "If it is not a particularly important military and state matter, you should not trouble Mr. Di."
In order to consolidate her rule, Wu Zetian took various measures to recruit talents and asked Di Renjie to He recommended talents who could serve as generals and ministers. Di Renjie recommended Zhang Jianzhi, Yao Chong and dozens of others, many of whom later became famous officials. Someone said to Di Renjie: "You are really a great person. You have recommended all the talented ministers in the court. You are really everywhere." Di Renjie said: "Recommending talented people to serve the country is not for personal gain, it is me. should be done.
”
In the year AD, ninety-three-year-old Di Renjie died of illness, and Wu Zetian burst into tears. From then on, whenever there was a major issue in the court but no one could solve it, Wu Zetian often sighed and said: "Why is it so early in the morning?" Just took away my country elder! ”
The idiom “The world is full of peaches and plums” is often used to describe a person who has students everywhere. Peach trees and plum trees are a metaphor for the outstanding talents they cultivate.
Ends of the world
Ends of the world
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Han Yu, also known as Tuizhi, was a great writer in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. His father died when he was two years old, and his mother died soon after. When he was young, he relied on his brother Han Hui and his sister-in-law Mrs. Zheng. Han Hui had an heir (the son of Han Yu's second brother, who succeeded his eldest brother) named Lao Cheng, who was ranked twelfth, so his nickname was Twelve Lang. Later, Han Hui was a little younger than Han Yu when he was forty-two years old. , due to the affairs of Prime Minister Yuan Zai, he was demoted to the governor of Shaozhou and died of illness in Shaozhou within a few months. At this time, Han Yu was only eleven years old, and Twelve Lang was also very young. Although Han Yu had three older brothers (Hui, Bian, (Introduction), but they all passed away early. At this time, the only people who inherited the descendants of their ancestors were Han Yu and his nephew Twelve Lang. They were lonely and had not left Yicheng for a day. In the next ten years, he only met Twelve Lang three times. When he was planning to return to the west and live with Twelve Lang forever, unfortunately, Twelve Lang died at this time. , was so grief-stricken that he wrote an "Essay on Commemoration to Twelve Langs", asking Jianzhong to prepare some current items and go to commemorate him from a long way away. This memorial article is filled with tears every word, which is sad to read. . There is a sentence in the memorial text "One is at the end of the sky, and the other is at the corner of the earth", which was later extended to the sentence "the end of the world" to describe extremely distant places.
A rat-throwing weapon.
In the early days of the Three Kingdoms, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty went hunting with his prime minister Cao Cao and his uncle Liu Bei. In order to show his strength, Cao Cao went hand in hand with Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. When Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty saw a rabbit not far away, he called him Liu Bei. He wanted to see the emperor's archery skills. Liu Bei quickly bent his bow and shot the arrow, and hit the rabbit. Emperor Xian repeatedly praised his archery skills. The Southern Emperor saw a big deer and missed three arrows in a row, so he asked Cao Cao to shoot. Cao Cao took Nan Di's Jin Bi arrow and hit the deer with one arrow. When the soldiers saw that the deer was shot by Jin Bi arrow, they thought it was shot by Emperor Xian and shouted "Long live". Cao Cao proudly stood in front of Emperor Xian. Accepting the cheers. Guan Yunchang couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to kill Cao Cao with his saber. Liu Bei quickly hinted that he shouldn't act rashly. Afterwards, Guan Yunchang asked Liu Bei why he didn't let Cao Cao be killed. He said: "The Emperor Xian is with him." ”
“To throw a rat-averse weapon” means that when a rat approaches an object, you are afraid of breaking the rat’s utensils. It is now often used to describe someone who is hesitant about doing something and dare not let it go.
Repairing the situation
During the Warring States Period, King Xiang of Chu was a mediocre king. The state of Qin always coveted the land of Chu and tried to take it for himself. p>
The doctor Zhuang Xin bluntly advised him to be more careful, but King Chu Xiang not only refused to listen, but also reprimanded Zhuang Xin as an "old fool", so Zhuang Xin had no choice but to leave for Zhao. > Soon Qin sent troops to seize many towns in Chu. At this time, King Chu Xiang realized that Zhuang Xin was right. He immediately invited Zhuang Xin back to his country. He humbly asked Zhuang Xin: "What should we do with this situation?" ? Zhuang Xin said: "It's not too late to make amends!" ”
Death: Lost. Lao: A pen for livestock. “Mending something after a sheep is lost” is a metaphor for making mistakes and trying to make amends to avoid further losses.
Looking at the ocean and sighing
The idiom "Looking at the ocean and sighing" comes from Zhuangzi's "Autumn Waters". The story says: The autumn floods arrived according to the season, and the water from countless tributaries poured into the Yellow River. The river was very wide, and the water mist was steaming on both sides of the river. , it was still a sandbar in the middle of the river. Looking from the other side, it was hard to tell whether it was a cow or a horse. At this time, He Boxin was intoxicated with himself, thinking that all the beauty in the world was concentrated on him.
He Bo followed the current of the water and headed eastward. When he arrived at the North Sea, he looked eastward and saw nothing but a vast expanse.
Only then did He Bo begin to change his complacent demeanor. He raised his head and said with infinite sigh to Beihai God: "As the saying goes: 'Some people understand a little bit of truth and think that no one can compare with them. . 'This is what criticizes people like me. I once heard someone say that Confucius' knowledge was not great, and Boyi's virtue was not that great. I didn't believe it before, but now I see your vastness. , then I realized that this is true. If I don’t come to you, it will be bad. I will always be ridiculed by people with high morals and knowledge.”
The original meaning of this idiom. Seeing the greatness of others makes me feel my own insignificance. Later, people used it to describe feeling helpless due to insufficient power or insufficient conditions to do something.
A complete defeat
At the end of Qin Dynasty, farmers all over the country revolted against Qin. Peasant leaders Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rose up in Daze Township. At this time, Liu Bang also gathered people in Mang and Xi mountains. Liu Bang has great momentum, high prestige, and his military strength is growing day by day. The local magistrate of Peixian County was very worried when he learned about it. He thought that only by winning over Liu Bang could he maintain his power.
So, he sent someone to invite Liu Bang. Liu Bang immediately brought a large number of troops, which frightened the county magistrate and immediately closed the city gate. When the people in the city heard that Liu Bang was coming, they conspired to murder the county magistrate. They went out of the city to meet Liu Bang and supported him as the magistrate of Pei County. Liu Bang said modestly: "If the general is not chosen well, he will be invincible."
The general is not chosen well: the general is chosen incorrectly. A complete failure: once it is ruined, everything is lost. Describing the failure as disastrous, it was called "a complete failure."
One storm and ten colds
During the Warring States Period, a hundred schools of thought contended and lobbying was very popular. Generally speaking, lobbyists not only have profound scholarship and rich knowledge, but they are particularly outstanding in using profound and vivid metaphors to satirize those in power. Mencius was also a famous debater at that time. In the first chapter of Mencius and Gaozi, there is such a record:
Mencius said that the king of Qi was fatuous. He was very dissatisfied with his lack of persistence in his work and his credulity in the slanderous words, so he said to him rudely: "The king is too unwise. Although there are creatures with strong vitality in the world, you left them in the sun for a day." , but I left it in a cold place for ten days and it was still alive! The time I spent with the king was very short. Even if the king had some determination to do good, but as soon as I left you, those traitorous ministers came to deceive you again, and you would listen to them. What should I do? amp;uot;He made a vivid metaphor: amp;uot;Playing chess seems to be a trivial matter, but if you don’t concentrate on it, you won’t be able to learn well and won’t win. Yiqiu is the best player in the country. An expert in chess, he taught two apprentices. One of them was attentive and listened to Yi Qiu's instructions; the other was always afraid of the big swan coming and was ready to shoot the swan with an arrow. The two apprentices were taught by the same teacher and studied together, but the latter's grades were far apart. This is not a difference in their intelligence, but in their degree of concentration. This is a very teaching story. We have to learn one thing and do one thing well. We must concentrate on it and work hard. No. If you do something today, throw it away, and do it again the next ten days, how can you do things well? The success of studying and doing things is also one of the determining factors. Therefore, later people simplified Mencius's saying: uot; one day of violence, ten days of coldness&uot; Han & uot; an idiom used to describe lack of perseverance in studying and doing things, and a way of saying that there is no permanent change. For example, a classmate was very casual about his studies. He had little time to study and a lot of wasted time. We asked him: What can he learn from his unfavorable approach?
A rich meal
Han Xin, the general who helped Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty to bring peace to the world, was in a very difficult situation when he failed to succeed. At that time, he often went fishing under the city, hoping that with good luck, he could solve his life. However, this is not a reliable method after all, so you often go hungry.
Fortunately, in the place where he often fished, there were many drifters (old ladies who clean silk cotton wool or old clothes) working by the river. One of them sympathized with Han Xin's plight and kept helping him and giving him food. eat. In the midst of hardships, Han Xin received the favor from his hard-working Piao mother who could barely make ends meet with her hands. He was very grateful to her and told her that he would repay her heavily in the future. The Piao mother was very unhappy after hearing what Han Xin said, and expressed that she did not hope that Han Xin would repay her in the future. Later, Han Xin made a lot of contributions to the King of Han and was named King of Chu. He remembered that he had received favors from Piao's mother in the past, so he ordered his entourage to bring food and wine to her, and even gave her a thousand taels of gold to thank her. This idiom comes from this story. It means: when receiving favors from others, we must never forget that although the favors we receive are very small, in times of difficulty, even a little help is very valuable; when we are able, we should repay the favors heavily. Talent is reasonable. When we use this idiom, we must have a thorough understanding of its meaning: First, a person who is sincere and willing to help others will never expect others to repay him; second, the relief given by a rich person is a kind of donation. Even if you succeed one day and repay him, it cannot be called "a thousand pieces of gold." Thirdly, the most valuable thing is to help others out of friendship and sympathy when you are also in a very difficult situation. In the eyes of others, "one meal" is indeed worth "a thousand pieces of gold".
Not a dime
In ancient times, there was a rich man, everyone called him Uncle Six. He was very stingy. Because he exploited all day long, he fell ill from exhaustion and almost fainted. Three days later, when he sobered up a little, he saw that the room was full of relatives and friends who were dying, and he wanted to express something. His eldest nephew said, "Uncle Six, are there two relatives you haven't met yet?" He shook his head. The second nephew asked: "Is there a piece of silver that I kept where I didn't tell you?" Or maybe his wife understood and picked out one of the two wicks when she saw them burning at the same time. At this time, Uncle Liu breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, Uncle Liu, who was about to expire, was in tears and leaned close to his wife's ear, wanting to talk to her. He said:
"After I die, you can give the two notes I left to relatives who come to pay their respects."
"After I die, don't use a coffin. Just dig a hole and bury me."
"After I die, don't ask the monks to recite sutras. I will recite sutras myself under the underworld."
" After I die, peel off my skin and give it to the cobbler; pluck out my hair and give it to the brush maker, and don’t lose any of it..."
"Not a single hair is pulled out" means not even a single hair is pulled out. Lost, describing extreme selfishness.
Not worth a penny
Guan Fu, courtesy name Zhongru, was born in the Western Han Dynasty. He has an upright temperament, values ??integrity, and will do what he says. He often insults officials with higher status than him, but the poorer and humbler he is, the more he respects those with lower status than him. Therefore, many people with talent but no status at that time liked to be close to him.
Guan Fu likes to drink, and often loses his temper when drunk. One day, Prime Minister Tian Fen got married and drank a lot of wine. After a while, he walked up to Tian Fen and offered a toast. Tian Fen said, "I can't drink the full cup." Seeing that he refused to drink happily, Guan Fu said sarcastically, "Although you are a noble man, you should also drink." After finishing my toast, Tian Fen still did not drink. After Guanfu had a boring meal, he went to Linruhou Guanxian to propose a toast. At this time, Guan Xian was talking into the ears of Cheng Bushi (former border governor and later Dazhong doctor), but did not show any welcome to him. Guan Fu was angry at first, but when he saw this situation, he couldn't hold it in anymore. He immediately scolded Guan Xian and said, "I have always said that Cheng Bushi is worthless, but today you are biting him like a woman." Son!..."
From then on, people had the meaning of despising others, and if they wanted to say that this person had no merit or merit, they would say "worthless" or "not worth anything" "A penny" means worthless.
For example, we can call those who are arrogant and rude to their own people but groveling to outsiders, or those things that look good but are actually useless, we can call them "worthless".
Sincerity leads to gold and stone openings
During the Western Han Dynasty, there was a famous general named Li Guang. He was good at horseback riding and archery and was very brave in battle. He was called the "Flying General".
Once, when he went hunting at the southern foot of Mount Ming, he suddenly found a tiger crouching in the grass. Li Guang hurriedly bent his bow and arrow, concentrated on it, and used all his strength to shoot the arrow. Li Guang was a good archer. He thought the tiger must have been hit by an arrow and died, so he walked closer and took a closer look. Unexpectedly, what he was hit by was a big stone that looked like a tiger. Not only did the arrow penetrate deeply into the stone, but almost all of the arrow tail also penetrated into the stone. Li Guang was surprised. He didn't believe that he could have such great strength, so he wanted to try again, so he took a few steps back, drew his bow and nocked an arrow, and shot at the stone with all his strength. However, several arrows were not shot in. Some arrows were broken, some arrow shafts were broken, but the big stone was not damaged at all.
People were surprised and puzzled by this incident, so they went to consult the scholar Yang Xiong. Yang Xiong replied: "If you are sincere, even something as hard as gold and stone will be moved." The idiom "where sincerity reaches, gold and stone will open" has been passed down from this.
One person attains enlightenment, and chickens and dogs ascend to heaven
Liu An was the King of Huainan in the Han Dynasty. Legend has it that he rarely does serious things and only loves to seek elixirs and elixirs. When he met people, he said: "With the elixir, you can live forever!" He sent people into the mountains to visit the immortal, and sure enough, he got a fairy prescription from the immortal. He locked himself in darkness and refined the elixir. Ten round elixirs were refined in the Bagua furnace, and he swallowed five of them in one breath. Before he could swallow the other few, he was already floating up to the sky! The remaining elixir was eaten by the chickens and dogs outside the door. There was a crowing of chickens and dogs in the air. It turned out that they had also ascended to heaven and become immortals! "When one person attains enlightenment, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven" is a vivid allegory of how one person becomes an official and the whole family enjoys happiness.
Everything is ready, all we need is the east wind
During the Three Kingdoms era, a historically famous battle took place in Chibi, called the "Battle of Chibi".
Cao Cao claimed that he had millions of troops and was in the north, and wanted to annex the south. Soochow and Western Shu united to fight against the Northern Wei. Zhou Yu, the commander-in-chief of Soochow, and Zhuge Liang, the military advisor of Western Shu, studied together a plan to attack Cao Cao. They decided to take advantage of Cao Cao's arrogance and underestimate the enemy and adopt a fire attack combat plan. Zhou Yu used counterintuitive tactics and asked Cao Cao to kill Cai Mao and Zhang Yun, generals in Cao's army who were familiar with water warfare and could resist them. Zhou Yu also asked Pang Tong to make a fake plan and deceive Cao Jun into connecting the warships together.
Zhou Yu hit Huang Gai again and asked the veteran general to use the "bitter meat trick" to pretend to surrender to Cao Cao. In fact, Huang Gai filled the boat with flammable items and prepared to rush to Cao's camp and launch a fire attack by feinting to surrender.
Everything is arranged, but there is one very important condition missing - to set fire to Cao's army on the north bank, it must rely on the southeast wind. It was the middle of winter, and the northwest wind blew every day. Zhou Yu became seriously ill and bedridden. Only military strategist Zhuge Liang knew what was going on. He claimed to have a secret recipe that could cure Zhou Yu's illness. Zhuge Liang visited Zhou Yu and wrote out the prescription: If you want to defeat Duke Cao, you should attack with fire. Everything is ready except for the east wind. Four lines of rhyme reveal Zhou Yu's thoughts.
Zhou Yu eagerly asked Zhuge Liang if there was any way to borrow the east wind. Zhuge Liang knew astronomy from the top and geography from the bottom. Through meteorological observations, he had an idea in his mind. He told Zhou Yu that he could call the wind and rain, and borrowed the southeast wind for three days and three nights to help Zhou Yu set the fire. Zhou Yu immediately ordered people to build an earthen platform, called the "Seven Star Altar". Zhuge Liang prayed for southeast wind on the "Seven Star Altar".
On the scheduled date, the southeast wind was strong and Zhou Yu successfully executed his fire attack plan. The east wind blew wildly, and the fire shot into the sky. Cao Cao was defeated in the Battle of Chibi, and from then on, the situation of "three tripods" was established.
The idiom "Everything is ready, all we need is the east wind", which means that everything is ready, but the last important condition is missing