Nan Ke Yimeng describes a big dream or an empty joy.
At the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, there was a man named Chun Yuzun who lived in Guangling. There is a large locust tree with deep roots and luxuriant leaves in the courtyard of his house. On a midsummer night, the moon and stars are sparse, the tree shadows the tree, and the evening breeze blows, making it a good place to enjoy the cool air. On the day of Chunyuzun's birthday, his relatives and friends came to wish him a happy birthday. He was very happy for a moment. A few more drinks. At night, after his relatives and friends had dispersed, he sat under the locust tree to cool off alone with a bit of drunkenness. His eyes were drunk and his knees were wet, and he fell asleep unconsciously. In the dream, he arrived in Dahuai'an, just in time for the capital examination. He signed up for admission. After three exams, he wrote poems very smoothly. When the results were announced, he ranked first in high school. Immediately after the palace examination, the emperor showed off his talents due to disadvantages, behaved melancholy, and personally named him the number one scholar, and betrothed the princess to his wife. The number one scholar became the prince-consort, and became the talk of the capital for a while. After marriage, the relationship between husband and wife is very happy. Chun Yuzun was sent by the emperor to serve as the prefect of Nanhe County, where he stayed for 20 years. During his tenure as governor, Chunyu Zun often visited various counties, so that the magistrates of the counties under his jurisdiction did not dare to act recklessly, and he was highly praised by the local people. The emperor wanted to transfer Chunyu Zun back to the capital several times for promotion. When the local people heard that Chunyu Zun had resigned, they stopped their horses one after another to persuade him to stay. Chunyu Zun was so moved by the people's love that he had no choice but to stay and explain the situation to the emperor. The emperor appreciated Chun Yuzun's political achievements and rewarded him with many gold, silver and jewelry. One year, the enemy invaded, and the general of Dahuai'an led his army to meet the enemy. He was defeated several times by the enemy. When news of the defeat reached the capital, the emperor was shocked and hurriedly summoned civil and military ministers to discuss countermeasures. The ministers heard that the frontline military had suffered repeated defeats. The enemy troops were approaching the capital with extraordinary ferocity. Their faces turned pale with fear. They were helpless. The emperor looked at the minister's look and said angrily: "You live in peace and enjoy all the glory. Once something happens in the court, you will become a mouthless gourd. You will be timid and timid. You won't say a word. What's the use of you?" ?” The prime minister immediately recommended Chun Yuzun to the emperor. The emperor immediately ordered Chunyu Zun to lead the country's elite in a decisive battle with the enemy. When Chunyu Zun received the imperial edict, he did not dare to delay and immediately led his troops to fight. Unfortunately, he knew nothing about the art of war. As soon as he came into contact with the enemy soldiers, he was immediately defeated. His soldiers and horses were killed and they lost their armor and fled east and west. Chun Yuzun was almost captured. The emperor was furious and dismissed Chunyu Zun from his post and sent him home. Chunyu Zun screamed in anger and woke up from his dream, only to see stars twinkling on the branches of the moon. Only then did he realize that the so-called Nanhe County was just the southernmost trunk of the locust tree.
Skilling oneself
It is a metaphor for showing off one’s skills in front of experts. Mostly used for self-effacement.
A pile of soil by the quarrying river, Li Bai's name will be remembered forever;
A poem comes and goes, and Lu Ban plays a big ax in front of the gate.
This is a poem on Li Bai's tomb written by Mei Zhihuan in the Ming Dynasty. Li Bai, also known as Taibai, was a great poet in the Tang Dynasty. There are various myth-like legends about his death. For example, some say that Li Bai visited Dongting, Yueyang and Jinling (now Nanjing) in his later years. One day, Bozhou was quarrying by the river (caishi, in today's Dangtu County, Anhui, adjacent to the Yangtze River in the north). At night, the moon was as bright as day. Li Bai was drinking at the moon in the boat. He was very drunk. When he saw the shadow of the moon in the water, he reached out to catch it, and then fell into the river and disappeared. Some legends are even more magical, saying that suddenly there was a storm in the river, and a giant whale rose up with its hyena. The two fairy boys, holding banners, asked Li Bai to sit on the back of the whale, and they flew away in the air with the music leading the way. Of course, these legends cannot be believed, but in quarrying, many famous places appeared later. There are not only Li Bai's tomb, but also the Immortal Exile Tower, the Moon-Zhu Pavilion, etc., which have aroused the interest of countless tourists. Some tourists who don't understand the article but want to pretend to be elegant even make nonsense questions on Li Bai's tomb, which is very ridiculous. This poem by Mei Zhihuan satirizes such tourists. He believed that inscribing crooked poems on the tombs of great poets was like "making a big ax in front of Lu Ban's gate" - it was too presumptuous.
Lu Ban, it is said that his surname is Gongshu and his given name is Ban. He was a native of the Lu state during the Warring States Period, also known as Lu Ban. He is an expert at making exquisite utensils, and people call him "Qiaoren". Folks have always regarded him as the ancestor of carpenters. Who dares to show off his ax skills in front of Lu Ban? In other words, wanting to show one's abilities in front of big experts, this ridiculous and immodest behavior is called "playing a big ax in front of Lu Ban's door", or "playing an ax in front of Ban's door" for short. It's almost the same as the saying "showing a big sword in front of Guan Gong".
Liu Zongyuan, a litterateur of the Tang Dynasty, said in the preface to "Singing Harmony Poems for the Wang Brothers": "To wield an ax at the gate of Ban Ying is to strengthen Yan Er." (Ying refers to another ancient word) For those who are good at handling axes, see "axe righteousness". "Qiangyan" means shameless). It seems that the idiom "playing axes in class" was not only derived from the above poem by Mei Zhihuan in the Ming Dynasty, but also existed as early as the Tang Dynasty. It took shape.
This idiom is sometimes used as a self-effacing word to express that one does not dare to display one's skills in front of experts.
Sit back and relax
In the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a man named Mengchangjun in Qi State. He had three thousand guests at home. Mengchangjun divided these people into upper, middle and lower categories. grade! The upper-class guests can eat big fish and meat every day, and have cars to ride in when they go out; the middle-class guests can only eat fish and vegetables every day; the lower-class guests can only eat vegetables every day.
One day, Mengchangjun's friend introduced a man named Feng Chen (sound: Xuan) to Mengchangjun's house. Mengchangjun asked his friend: "What expertise does this man named Feng Chen have?" the friend thought. After a long time, he said: "It seems that he has no expertise!" After hearing this, Mengchang Jun ignored Feng Xuan. When the servants saw that Mengchang Jun ignored Feng Xuan, they thought that the master looked down on Feng Xuan, so they treated Feng Xuan as just another guest. .
Feng Xuan was very unhappy and complained every day: "Since everyone looks down on me, I might as well leave!" When Mengchang heard about it, he promoted Feng Xuan from a low-class guest to a high-class one. The guest also gave Feng Xuan's mother food and things to use. Feng Xuan thought to himself: "Mengchang Jun is so kind to me, I must find an opportunity to repay him!"
Once, Mengchang Jun sent Feng Xuan to Xue Di went to collect debts, and Feng Chen pretended to be an order from Lord Mengchang, telling everyone who owed money to Lord Mengchang not to pay back, and bought Lord Mengchang a good reputation of "righteousness"! Later, Lord Mengchang was dismissed from his position as Prime Minister by the King of Qi. When he returned to live in Xuedi, the people of Xuedi warmly welcomed Lord Mengchang!
Not long after, Feng Chen said to Mengchang Jun again: "A rabbit must have three holes to hide in to avoid the danger of being hunted by hunters. You live in Xuedi now, just like a rabbit only has one hole." , It’s very dangerous! If the king of Qi is dissatisfied with you and wants to kill you, you don’t even have a place to hide! So you can’t raise your pillow and sleep peacefully now!” Lord Mengchang said: "Then what should I do?" Feng Chen said, "Leave this matter to me! I will let you be like a cunning rabbit, with three safe holes to hide in!" So Feng Chen ran to find Liang Guo King Hui of Liang, the king of Liang, told King Hui of Liang that Lord Mengchang was very capable. After hearing this, King Hui of Liang immediately sent someone with a thousand catties of gold and a hundred carriages to invite Lord Mengchang to be the prime minister of Liang.
This news reached Qi State, and the monarch of Qi State immediately panicked, and hurriedly used solemn etiquette to invite Lord Mengchang to return to Qi State to be the prime minister. At the same time, Feng Chen asked Lord Mengchang to build an ancestral temple in Xuedi to ensure the safety of Xuedi.
After the ancestral temple in Xuedi was built, Feng Chen said to Lord Mengchang: "Now the three holes have been dug. From today on, you can raise your pillow and sleep peacefully!"
< p> Later, people used "sit back and relax" to describe being fully prepared for anything, feeling at ease and not having to be afraid!