It means that since ancient times, prosperity and wealth must come from hard work. A knowledgeable man should read a lot of books like Bachelor Bai in order to gain fame.
Original poem: "Scholar Bai's Thatched Cottage"
Tang Dynasty: Du Fu
The scholar in Bishan burns silver fish, but the white horse walks to the deep rock dwelling.
The ancients have used it for three winters, and now they have opened more than ten thousand volumes.
The clear clouds cover the house, and the autumn water floats down the steps and breaks through the canal.
Wealth must come from hard work, and a man must read five cars of books.
Translation: The war of the Anshi Rebellion caused Bai Xueshi to lose his official position. In the past, he used to participate in government affairs and outspokenly advise others. He built a thatched hut in the steep green mountains and lived in seclusion here.
But he still studied hard like Dongfang Shuo, a writer in the Han Dynasty. Although he was young, he was already successful in his studies. Looking outside the thatched cottage, the auspicious clouds gather as densely as the hood of a car, and the autumn water flows along the road like a torrent of water rushing through a canal. Since ancient times, prosperity and wealth must come from hard work. A wise man should read a lot of books like Bachelor Bai in order to gain fame.
Extended information
Writing background:
This poem was written in 767 AD (the second year of the Dali calendar of Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty), when Du Fu was 56 years old and lived in Kuizhou. (Today's Fengjie County, Chongqing City).
Du Fu visited Kuizhou in his later years. At that time, he had a close personal relationship with Bai Maolin, who was the governor of Kuizhou and the censor Zhongcheng. The contacts were so close that some unofficial historians said they were sworn friends. Bai Zhongcheng often supported Du Fu and once He generously cut off about 40 acres of citrus forest land in Xiling, Kuizhou to Du Fu, and at the same time entrusted him with managing hundreds of acres of rice fields in Dongtun.
Because the two people had a close friendship, many of the poems left by the poet saint were related to Bai's family. Among them, the first line of Bai's poem about Bachelor Bai's Thatched House said Bishan scholar burned silver fish, so the word Bishan came into being. Introduced a new name for the Bai family.