It means that a person's character is as firm as a stone, and he is as brave as a plum blossom, and his character is as tall and straight as a mountain and river, and as noble and clean as a herb.
This is a couplet, which comes from the cursive banner "Iron Stone Plum Blossom Spirit, Scenery and Vanilla" written by the calligrapher Wang Chong in the Ming Dynasty.
Iron stone and plum blossom are unyielding things. Iron stone keeps itself in the face of wind and rain, but plum blossom is cold and alone in the winter when flowers are dying, which describes people's firm character and does not go with the flow.
mountains, rivers and herbs are towering things, mountains and rivers are higher than shapes, and herbs flow to the gods, both of which are beautiful and pure things, so as to describe people's noble conduct and not flow to the world.
Extended information:
The implication of plum blossom and vanilla
1. Plum blossom
In the traditional culture of China, plum gives people an incentive to work hard with its noble, strong and modest character. In the cold, before the flowers bloom, the world is alone and spring comes.
Plum blossom is the first of the top ten famous flowers in China. It is listed as the Four Gentlemen together with orchids, bamboos and chrysanthemums, and is also known as the "Three Friends of Cold Years" together with pines and bamboos. In the traditional culture of China, Mei, with her noble, strong and modest character, gives people an incentive to work hard. In the cold, before the flowers bloom, the world is alone and spring comes.
The ancient literati in China had a soft spot for plum blossoms, and it was an elegant thing to enjoy them. Appreciation of plum blossoms is based on the word "exploration", and appreciation of plum blossoms generally focuses on color, fragrance, shape, rhyme and time.
2. Vanilla
In ancient times, Vanilla refers to the nobleness of morality and personality, and also symbolizes both sides of political struggle. According to ancient legend, vanilla is a pre-Buddha plant, which has been washed by Buddhist language, so its character is very noble.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Wang Chong cursive couplet
Baidu Encyclopedia-Vanilla
Baidu Encyclopedia-Mei