During the Republic of China, Liang Qichao gave a speech entitled "Gentleman" to the students in Tsinghua at that time. In his speech, he hoped that all students in Tsinghua would inherit the traditional Chinese virtues, and quoted the words of "self-improvement" in the Book of Changes to inspire them. Later, Tsinghua people wrote "self-improvement" into Tsinghua's school motto.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, He Lv, the king of Wu, led troops to attack Yue. In the battle, he was cut off by the general of the state of Yue, and died of his injuries. His son Fu Cha succeeded to the throne.
Three years later, Fu Cha led the troops to attack Yue State and captured Huiji, the capital of Yue State. Gou Jian, the King of Yue, had to surrender. Fu Cha escorted Gou Jian and his wife to the State of Wu, let them live in a stone house next to He Lv's tomb, and let Gou Jian feed the horses. Every time Fu Cha goes out by car, Gou Jian leads the horse for him and pretends to be obedient. In this way, after two years, Fu Cha thought that Gou Jian had sincerely surrendered to him and let him go home.
When Gou Jian returned to Yue State, he was determined to avenge himself. On the one hand, he continued to obey Fu Cha, the king of Wu; on the other hand, he secretly accumulated strength and worked hard. He has formulated many policies to strengthen national strength, stipulating that taxes will not be collected for seven years, so that people can strive to increase their savings and increase their population. Not only that, Gou Jian also personally worked in the fields, and his wife also wore simple clothes, spinning and weaving linen, which set an example for the people.