1. How can you get the fragrance of plum blossoms without experiencing a bone-chilling cold?
Definition: How can there be such a fragrant fragrance of plum blossoms without going through a baptism of bone-chilling coldness.
Source: "Ode to the Speech in the Hall" by Zen Master Huang Chang, a famous monk in the Tang Dynasty.
The poem uses plum blossoms blooming in the wind and snow, emitting fragrance, as a metaphor for the state of Zen enlightenment after hard exploration, thus expressing the poet's thought of admonishing the world to behave like plum blossoms when doing things.
2. Therefore, if you do not accumulate steps, you cannot reach a thousand miles; if you do not accumulate small streams, you cannot reach a river or sea.
Interpretation: So if you don’t accumulate one and a half steps, you can’t reach a thousand miles; if you don’t accumulate small flows, you can’t merge into rivers and seas.
Source: Xunzi's "Encouragement to Learning" at the end of the Warring States Period.
It is a metaphor for the role of accumulation, which can enrich, enrich and perfect oneself. It can be used to say that the value of learning work lies in continuous accumulation.
3. Since the accumulation of water is not thick, it will not be able to carry a large boat.
Definition: If the collected water is not deep, then it will not have the strength to carry a large ship.
Source: "Xiaoyaoyou" by Zhuang Zhou during the Warring States Period.
Emphasize that a large boat relies on the depth of water to sail, and it requires hard work to succeed.
4. Plant one grain of millet in spring and harvest ten thousand grains in autumn.
Definition: If you sow a seed in spring, you can harvest a lot of food in autumn.
Source: "Two Poems of Compassion for the Farmers" by Li Shen, a poet of the Tang Dynasty.
The transformation of "one grain of millet" into "ten thousand seeds" concretely and vividly depicts the harvest, and uses "planting" and "harvest" to praise the labor of farmers.