Thousand Characters

Chapter 5

[Original text]

Clouds rise to rain, and dew turns to frost.Gold grows in Lishui, and jade grows in Kungang.

【Note】

Cloud: cloud gas, water vapour.Dew: dew.Clouds, rain, dew, and frost are all different forms of water at different temperatures. Clouds are gases, rain and dew are liquids, and frost is a solid.Gold: Gold, gold is the head of a hundred golds, and it is said that it can be used to drive away evil spirits and avoid evil.Lishui: Lijiang, Yunnan, also known as the Jinsha River, produces gold.Jade: Jade, jade is a mountain stone that has received the essence of the sun and the moon for thousands of years, and can be used to keep people safe.The first two sentences of these four sentences talk about the formation process and reasons of natural phenomena such as clouds, rain, dew, and frost, and the last two sentences talk about China's natural products and resources. It is rich in natural resources, among which the gold from the Jinsha River and the jade from the Kunlun Mountains are the most famous.

【Interpretation】

The water vapor on the ground rises upwards, and as the temperature gradually drops, it slowly turns into rain; at night, the surface temperature drops, and the water vapor condenses on the surface to form white frost.The gold that can be used to drive away evil spirits is produced in Lijiang, Yunnan; the jade that is worn on the body to keep people safe is produced in the Kunlun Mountains in the northwest.

【allusion】

During the Warring States period, Yan Zhao King condescended to seek talents and recruit scholars. During the Warring States period, civil strife broke out in Yan State, and the general city was conspired with the prince Ji Ping to attack the king's son.After learning about this, Qi State took the opportunity to invade and aggressively attacked Yan State, causing Yan State to suffer a rare disaster.After the death of the king of Yan, the prince Ji Ping succeeded to the throne as King Zhao, and made Guo Wei the prime minister.After suffering the pain of national destruction and family destruction, Ji Ping decided to change his mind and work hard to restore and strengthen the national strength as soon as possible.Therefore, he deeply mourned the generals and soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country, paid for the families of the deceased, and always shared weal and woe with the people, with one heart and one mind.At the same time, he also built a golden platform to recruit talents.One day, King Zhao said to Prime Minister Guo Wei: "The State of Qi took advantage of our civil strife and committed murder. If we do not avenge this revenge, this life will be wasted. Although our Yan State is a small country and its strength is weak, I still hope to get virtuous and capable people. I will govern the country together, hoping that I will have the opportunity and ability to wash away the great humiliation in the future. If I can find a talented person who can make Yan country prosperous and strong, I am willing to serve him wholeheartedly. But where can I find such a person now?" Guo Kui was originally a cunning and virtuous man. After pondering for a while, he solemnly said to King Zhao: "If your majesty sincerely invites virtuous people, please treat me as a virtuous person first. My virtuous people will volunteer to serve the king.” After hearing Guo Wei’s words, King Zhao thought it was very reasonable, so he built a beautiful house for him, and humbly worshiped him as his teacher.After the news spread that King Yanzhao was sincerely looking for talents, sages from all over the world came to join Yan State one after another. Among them were Le Yi from Wei State, Zou Yan from Qi State, and Ju Xin from Zhao State. They assisted King Zhao wholeheartedly. With unremitting efforts, Yan finally became stronger.Later, King Zhao ordered Le Yi to be the general, and led his army to crusade against Qi State.

(End of this chapter)