During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was a writer named Xie Lingyun who was good at rock climbing. When he climbs mountains, he often wears a pair of wooden spiked shoes. When he goes up the mountain, he removes the spikes on the front palms and on the way down, he removes the spikes on the back palms. As a result, he can go up and down the mountain with much less effort and stability. This is the famous "Xie Gong's Clogs".
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Xie Lingyun was born in 385 AD in Dongshan, Shining (now Dongshan, Shangpu Township, Shangyu). His mother, Liu, was the granddaughter of Wang Xiwai, and his father, Xie, was the son of Xie Xuan, a famous general in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Xie Xuan made great achievements in the Feishui War and was granted the title of Lord Kang Le, with a settlement of 2,000 households. When he was young, Xie Lingyun showed extraordinary literary talent. His uncle praised him as "the beauty of his writing is unmatched by Jiangzuo."
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In the first year of Yixi (405) of Emperor An of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, 21-year-old Xie Lingyun entered the officialdom. After Liu Yu established the Song Dynasty, he was always suspicious of the Xie family. Xie Lingyun was demoted to Yongjia Prefecture, Linchuan Internal History and other positions.
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Xie Lingyun was well-spoken and liked to talk and chat with the people through poetry. Legend has it that when Xie Lingyun was serving as the prefect of Yongjia (now Wenzhou, Zhejiang), he went to the countryside and stayed at the Hexi Inn in Jingning. A village girl of fifteen or sixteen years old came to deliver tea. Xie Lingyun casually chanted:
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"Six feet of ribbon, three feet wrapped around the head and three feet hung",
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Unexpectedly , the girl smiled faintly at Xie Lingyun and replied:
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"A quilt, half covering the body and half empty."
He said:
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"There is no intention at all, but there are many branches."
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When the girl heard this, she knew what she had just said casually. , there was a loophole that could easily lead to misunderstanding, and he immediately replied:
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"Although the lotus root has holes, it is not stained with any mud."
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When Xie Lingyun heard this, he knew that he was not being frivolous just now, but that he was unintentional, so he deliberately sighed:
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"Alas! The mountains are deep and the forests are dense. How can I teach the woodcutter? Let's do it."
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The girl replied calmly:
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"Hey! The water is clear and the sand is shallow, so I advise the fisherman not to bother. Scheming. "
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After answering, make tea, close the door and go downstairs. Xie Lingyun watched the girl leave the room and said to himself:
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"The mountains are high and the streams are small, how could such a strange girl come out."
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But the girl heard it on the stairs and replied loudly:
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"The village is poor, so don't neglect your distinguished guest."
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Xie Lingyun admired the talent of this village girl very much, and he still remembered it many years later, saying that there were indeed talents in the countryside.
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In the third year of Yuanjia (426), Emperor Wen of the Song Dynasty adopted a policy of co-opting wealthy families in order to consolidate his rule. Because Xie Lingyun was very famous, he was recruited as secretary supervisor. He was also assigned to write the history of Jin Dynasty. But not long after, Xie Lingyun realized that the emperor respected him on the surface, but in fact "only received him in a formal manner." Soon, the disappointed Xie Lingyun resigned again and returned to his hometown - Shining, where he exchanged chants with friends, or led hundreds of Followers go in and out of deep mountains and valleys, exploring wonders and climbing mountains and rocks.
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In the tenth year of Yuanjia (433), Xie Lingyun was killed in Guangzhou by Emperor Wen of the Song Dynasty Liu Yilong on the charge of "rebellion". He was only 49 years old when he died. A generation of literary giants is like a shooting star, flashing a short and dazzling light in the sky and passing away. Xie Lingyun came from a famous family and was talented, but his career was bumpy. In order to get rid of his political troubles, he had no choice but to wander around the mountains and rivers, explore the wonders and sights, and inadvertently became a pioneer of mountain climbing and rock climbing in China and the founder of landscape poetry.