Piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine, flowers, and tea.
In ancient times, such a word was often used to describe a person who was particularly talented. This is - "playing, chess, calligraphy and painting". Obviously, "Qin, Qi, Calligraphy and Painting" includes four skills, namely, playing the piano, playing chess, calligraphy, and painting. It is worth mentioning that the "qin" here refers to the guqin, which is the "lyre", also known as "Yao Qin", "Jade Qin", etc. The famous "Guangling San", "Plum Blossom Three Lanes", Famous songs such as "Yangguan Sandie" and "Qiao Qiao Qiao" are all played on the lyre.
In addition, we all know that there are many types of chess, such as chess, military chess, checkers, backgammon, etc., but the "chess" in "Qinqi, calligraphy and painting" refers specifically to Go. Go, originated in China, was called "chess" in ancient times. It can be called the originator of chess. As for "book" and "painting", of course there is no need to say more.
There were many "sages" in ancient China, and "Qin, Chess, Calligraphy and Painting" accounted for the "Four Sages":
The Sage of Qin - Yu Boya (Spring and Autumn and Warring States)
The chess sage—Huang Longshi (Qing Dynasty)
The calligraphy sage—Wang Xizhi (Eastern Jin Dynasty)
The painting sage—Wu Daozi (Tang Dynasty)
Poetry , wine, flowers, tea
If "Qin, chess, calligraphy and painting" focus on a person's talent, then "Poetry, Wine, Flowers and Tea" focus on highlighting a person's elegant life style. Chinese people have always paid attention to the fact that "food is the first priority for the people", and eating is of course the first priority. However, after eating, if you pursue some more elegant interests, it will naturally be poetry, wine, flowers, and tea.
In ancient times, if a person did not join the circle of "poetry, wine, flowers, and tea", he obviously could not be called a scholar. Drinking wine, composing poems, admiring flowers, and drinking tea, in the eyes of modern people , is so "petty bourgeoisie", but in fact, in ancient times, it was basically the same as when we watch movies, play with mobile phones, etc. today.
Among the "Poetry, Wine, Flowers and Tea", there are of course "sages". For example, the "Poetry Sage" is Du Fu of the Tang Dynasty, the "Wine Sage" is Du Kang of the Xia Dynasty, and the "Tea Sage" is It was Lu Yu from the Tang Dynasty. As for "flowers", there seems to be no "Flower Saint", but there are "Ten Friends of Flowers", for example: orchids represent "fang friends", plum blossoms represent "pure friends", lotus represents "pure friends" and so on.