The most interesting folklore

Chapter 30 The most interesting folk proverbs (4)
In the Spring and Autumn Period, when Confucius was traveling, he heard someone crying on the way, and the crying was very sad.Confucius said: "Catch up, catch up! There are sages crying in front of you." Looking closer, it turned out to be Gao Yu, who was wearing a coarse cloth, holding a sickle and crying beside the road.Confucius let the car aside, got out of the car and talked with Gao Yu, saying: "Sir, is there a funeral? Why are you crying so sadly?" Gao Yu replied: "I have three kinds of faults! When I was young, I liked to study. Traveling to the princes and countries, and then returning home, my parents have passed away. This is my first fault; I am laughing at myself. Yue, old and accomplish nothing, this is the second mistake; having a deep friendship with friends but breaking up halfway, this is the third mistake. The tree wants to be quiet but the wind does not stop, the children want to support their parents but the parents are premature When you pass away, it’s time and time that will never return, and it’s your parents who can’t see each other again, and I want to bid farewell to the world forever.” After saying that, he immediately died like a dead tree.

Confucius said to his disciples: "You must remember these words, they are enough to serve as your warning. So 13 disciples bid farewell to Confucius and went home to serve their parents.

"The tree wants to be quiet but the wind doesn't stop" comes from this story.It means that the tree is still, but the wind keeps blowing, making it shake.People use it as a metaphor for the contradiction between the objective situation and the subjective wish, and it is often used in conjunction with "the child wants to support but the relative does not wait".

38. Who said that "wealth comes from diligence and thrift breaks from extravagance"?

"Success comes from diligence and thrift breaks from extravagance" means that success comes from diligence and thrift, and ruin comes from extravagance.The language comes from Li Shangyin's "Ode to History" in the Tang Dynasty.

According to "Han Feizi Ten Passes" records: Duke Mu of Qin once asked Yu Yu: "What do you think is the reason why the ancient monarchs made the country prosper and fall?"

Yu Yu replied: "A country prospers because of diligence and thrift, but a country falls because of extravagance."

Later, Li Shangyin, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, took his meaning and wrote a poem "Ode to History":
Looking at the former virtuous countries and homes,
Success comes from diligence and thrift, and destruction comes from extravagance.

Why worry about amber,
How can I get pearls before they are cars.

Shipped to Qinghai horse,

It is difficult to pull out the Shu mountain snake with poor strength.

Several people have prepared Nanxun song,
Forever Cangwu cried for Cuihua.

The first two sentences of this poem are a summary of historical experience, pointing out that the success of ancient monarchs in governing the country is mainly due to diligence and thrift, while luxury leads to ruin.

39. Who is it that says "come in high spirits and return in disappointment"

Wang Huizhi, the third son of the great calligrapher Wang Xizhi, is arrogant by nature, likes to make friends, does not want to be restrained by others, and behaves boldly and unrestrainedly.Although he is an official in the court, he often wanders around and does not deal with the daily affairs of the official office.Later, he simply resigned from his official position and lived in seclusion in Shanyin (now Shaoxing). He traveled around mountains and rivers every day, drank wine and recited poems, but he was quite free.

Once, on a snowy night, when he saw the moonlight was clear and the sky was cloudless, he couldn't help thinking of a friend Dai Kui who could play the piano.He thought: Wouldn't it be beautiful if Dai Kui was by his side, the sound of the piano accompanied by the shadow of the moon, and the heartfelt words of friends!He was so excited that he couldn't help himself, so he immediately went to Shanxi by boat to visit his friends.Due to the long distance, we did not arrive until dawn.However, when he arrived at the door of Dai Kui's house, he did not go in, but turned his oars and returned.Afterwards, someone asked him about it, "You went to Dai Kui's house in such a hurry late at night, why did you turn around and come back when you got to the door?" And Hui', why do you have to see Dai Kui?"

This code comes from "Book of Jin·Wang Huizhi Biography".Later generations use the phrase "come with pleasure, return with exhaustion" or "come with pleasure, return with disappointment", which means that you come with a momentary interest or with some kind of hope, and return when your interest is over or you feel disappointed. .

40. "Centipede, dead but not stiff" are you talking about centipedes?

This is an ancient idiom, see the story of Cao Tong persuading Cao Shuang in "Three Kingdoms · Wei Shu · Wu Wen Shi Wang Gong Biography".

Cao Shuang (? 249), Yu Zhaobo, grandson of Cao Cao, was a general of Wuwei during the Three Kingdoms Wei Ming Emperor.When Emperor Wei Ming was dying, he entrusted Cao Shuang and Sima Yi to assist the young master Cao Fang.However, Sima Yi is resourceful and has long had the ambition to usurp Cao's regime. Cao Shuang is far from Sima Yi's opponent.At that time, there was a man named Cao Tong, who belonged to the Cao clan.Seeing the crisis of the Cao clan, he wrote a letter to advise Cao Shuang, explaining the reasons for the demise of the royal family in the past dynasties. Only in this way can the ruling foundation of the Cao Group be consolidated, and it can be maintained even if it encounters turbulence.Cao Tong persuaded: "Without spring water, the river will dry up; the roots of the tree will rot, and the leaves will wither; the branches and leaves will flourish, and the roots will be sheltered; the branches will wither, and the trunk will be isolated. So people often say, 'Hundred Foot The worm is dead but not stiff', this is because there are many worms, so even if it is dead, it can support its body. This sentence is about a small thing, but it can be used to describe a big truth."

"A centipede, dead but not stiff" comes from this story.People use it to describe a phenomenon that although a certain person, a certain family, or a certain group has declined, they can still maintain certain prosperity for a period of time.

41. Does "one person achieves the Tao, chicken and dog ascend to heaven" refer to immortals?
People get Tao, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven" originally meant that Liu An became a fairy after he got Tao, and his chickens and dogs also ascended to heaven after eating the elixir. Now it is used to satirize a person who is promoted and powerful, and people related to him are also prosperous , to gain benefits. The language comes from Wang Chong's "Lunheng·Daoxu".

Han Gaozu had a grandson named Liu An, who inherited his father's title and was named Huainan King.

Liu An has a dream, which is to live forever and become a fairy.In order to realize this dream, he recruited many alchemists and indulged in researching fairy arts and concocting elixirs all day long.Legend has it that after years of research and development, Liu An has really refined the elixir for attaining enlightenment and immortality.After he took the elixir, he floated up to the sky. When he was in mid-air, he threw the leftover elixir in his yard, and his family, chickens and dogs all rushed to eat the elixir.As a result, the chickens and dogs also ascended to heaven after taking the elixir.For a while, there were roosters crowing and dogs barking in the air, causing neighbors to wait and see.

Of course, this is just a legend. In history, Liu An, the king of Huainan, really liked to seek immortals and visit Taoism. He had many Taoists and alchemists under his command.Liu An sent these people to collect ancient books to find the way to become immortals, and compiled a book, the famous "Huainanzi".

43. What does "there is no tile above, and no place for pins below" refer to

The words come from the dialogue between the Jiashan monk and the Chuanshan monk in the "Jingde Biography of Lantern Records" written by Shi Daoyuan in the Song Dynasty.It was late at night, and the lecture hall in the temple was still brightly lit. Several old monks were sitting in the lecture hall and preaching the scriptures. Monk Jiashan asked, "What kind of person is considered to have the Tao?"

Chuanshan monk said with a smile: "This person has no tiles on the top and no cones on the bottom." It means: a man of Taoism has nothing in his heart. There is not even a tile on his head, and there is not even a small place under his feet. No.Another monk nodded and said: "We monks are like this. If we want to learn the Tao, we must think about nothing but become a Buddha."

Later generations said "there is no tile on the top, no sharp cone on the bottom" as "there is no tile on the top, no place to stand a cone on the bottom" or "there is no tile on the top, and no place to insert pins below", which is used to describe people who are so poor that they have nothing on their heads. There is only one piece of tile (that is, no housing), and there is not even a little land (arable land) under the feet.

43. Why is it said that "the style of Tianqiao is only talked about but not practiced"

There is a saying in old Beijing that satirizes people who can only talk about it, and it is called "the way of Tianqiao-just talk but not practice".

This is by no means a slander made out of nothing, as long as people who have seen the martial arts (martial arts and acrobatics) at Tianqiao will have this experience.Before liberation, there was a martial arts field in Tianqiao, where father and son practiced together. The father said many times how accurate his slingshot was. Every time he said this, he played money, and after the money was played, most of the audience left, and then he started the performance from the beginning, and at the end of the performance he said that he played the marbles in his son's mouth, and then played money.In fact, "playing the marbles in the mouth" is just a button designed for playing money. No one has ever seen their father and son practice it.

All the artistes in Tianqiao can say, the so-called "skin and colorful hanging, all depends on words". "Towel skin color hanging" is a catchphrase in the rivers and lakes. "Towel" (or written as "gold") is for fortune-telling. There is a saying of "72 scarves" in Jianghu, which means that fortune-telling can be divided into 72 categories; "skin" refers to medicine sellers in Jianghu; "Refers to jugglers; "hang" refers to performing tricks.That is to say, to perform art in the world, the first thing is to be able to speak and be able to speak, and the second is "art".But I can only "speak", without "art", I am afraid that it will not work after a long time, and things will go to the opposite side.

44. What are the "variety of varieties"?
In ancient times, "variety of flowers" refers to: golden chrysanthemum - a metaphor for a woman selling tea; Kapok - a metaphor for a doctor who goes to the street to treat people; Narcissus - a metaphor for a singer in a restaurant; Pyracantha - a metaphor for a juggler People; Flowers in the soil-a metaphor for porters; One door scarf-A person who counts umbrellas and divination; Two door skins-A person who sells herbs; Three doors of color-A juggler; Menping - storytellers and commentators; Liumentuan - people who sell and sing on the street; Qimendiao - people who set up tents and tie paper; Menchao - people who sing chorus operas.

"Five Flowers Introduction" is sometimes interpreted as an formation in ancient tactics: "Five Flowers" is a five-element formation; "Eight Gates" is an "eight-door formation".During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, many strategists knew how to use this five-element formation.The five elements are gold, wood, water, fire and earth.The ancients believed that the various elements that make up various substances are the five elements.In addition, the five elements represent the five pigments of red, yellow, blue, white and black, and when mixed together, they can also change into a variety of colors, which can dazzle people.The entry formation is also called the Eight Diagrams formation. This formation was originally arranged according to the order of the Eight Diagrams.However, 64 can become [-] hexagrams, which often makes the opponent's army fall into confusion.According to legend, Sun Wu and Sun Bin of the Spring and Autumn Period were the first to use the entry formation.Later, Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms period changed the entry formation into the "eight formation diagram".

45. Is "Unparalleled Under Heaven" a high-strength martial art?

The world is unparalleled "Biography of Lord Xinling", which means unique, there is no second in the world.

There was a man named Huang Xiang in Jiangxia, Hubei. His mother passed away since he was a child, and he lived with his father who was a minor official, and lived a very poor life.Huang Xiang was very filial to his father. In the hot summer, he used a fan to cool the mat on the bed so that his father could sleep more comfortably. In the cold winter, he got into the bed first to warm the quilt before inviting his father to bed.Therefore, his father loved him more and helped him learn a lot of knowledge.

Huang Xiang later became an official. During his tenure as the prefect of Wei County, the local area was flooded. The people were washed away by the flood and became homeless, hungry and cold.Huang Xiang took out her salary and family property and distributed them to the people affected by the disaster.

Huang Xiang was diligent and studious when she was young, respected her father, and cared for the people when she was an official, which won praise from many people.At that time, there was a famous rumor circulating in the capital: "Unparalleled under heaven, Jiangxia Huangxiang."

(End of this chapter)