The letter written thousands of miles away is just for a wall, so what if it is three feet away.
A letter from home thousands of miles away is just for the wall, so why not give it three feet? This is a "Poetry for Giving Up the Wall" written by Zhang Ying, a wise minister of the Qing Dynasty. The original text:
A letter from home thousands of miles away is just for the wall. It doesn't matter if the wall is three feet away from him. The Great Wall still exists today, but Qin Shihuang is nowhere to be seen.
Translation:
Writing a letter from thousands of miles away is just for a wall, so what if he is three feet away. The Great Wall is still there today, but Qin Shihuang, who originally ordered the construction of the Great Wall, is long gone.
This "Give Wall Poem" comes from a historical allusion in Liuchi Alley. Historical records record that there was an open space next to the residence of Duke Zhang Wenrui, which was adjacent to the Wu family, and the Wu family used it more and more. The family sent the letter to the capital, and the official approval letter was sent back later. When the family got the letter, they withdrew Sanchi, so Liuchi Lane was named after it.
Liuchixiang is located in the southwest corner of Tongcheng City, Anhui Province. It is 100 meters long and 2 meters wide. It was built during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. There are stone archways at both ends of the lane, with the word "courtesy" engraved on them. .
Extended information:
Historical allusions:
The reason why the allusion of "Liuchixiang" has become a historical legend stems from the relationship between the Zhang family and their neighbors. Land disputes. During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, the Youchang and Wu families were neighbors. There was a path in the yard between them for everyone to travel. One day, the Wu family wanted to build a house and occupy this road, but the Zhang family did not agree. The two families fell out over a road and went to the county government.
But the county government was afraid of the identities of the two families and did not dare to make a conclusion. The Zhang family wrote a letter to Zhang Ying, the owner of the Zhang family, asking him to seek justice. Zhang Ying was a great scholar and Minister of Rites of the imperial court at that time. He was away from home all year round due to his busy government affairs. He was very happy to see the letter from home, but he didn't expect that his wife's letter from home was because of that alley, so he wrote a letter back to his wife.
"The letters from thousands of miles are just for the wall, so why not give him three feet of land? The Great Wall is still there today, but Qin Shihuang is nowhere to be seen." After receiving the reply, the Zhang family woke up and took the initiative to give up the three feet of land. The Wu family was also moved by the Zhang family's actions and took the initiative to give up their land. The two families settled their differences and accidentally created the famous Six Feet Alley. Later generations often use Liufeixiang to describe the way to be tolerant and harmonious.
Zhang Ying was a wise minister of the Qing Dynasty, and his son was Zhang Tingyu, a very famous Han minister in the mid-Qing Dynasty. He entered the official career during the Kangxi period and later assisted Emperor Yongzheng. He successively held important positions such as the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Officials, the Minister of Household Affairs, the Chief Assistant to the Cabinet, and the Minister of Military Aircraft, and devoted himself to the rule of the Qing Dynasty.
Zhang Tingyu had a high status in the court, but he never took credit for his pride and dominated the government and the public. Instead, he lived a life of integrity, self-denial and devotion to public service. Therefore, Zhang Tingyu became the only Han official in the Qing Dynasty who was worthy of enjoying the Imperial Ancestral Temple.