This sentence is selected from Baoren An Shu written by Sima Qian in the Western Han Dynasty, and the original excerpt is:
People are inherently mortal, either heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather. It's too high, first of all, it doesn't insult the body, second of all, second of all, second of all, third of all, fourth of all, fourth of all, sixth of all, fifth of all, the skin, fifth of all, the limbs, and the bottom is extremely rotten!
Translation:
Of course, everyone will die, but some people die heavier than Mount Tai, and some people die lighter than a feather. This is because they live on different things!
The most important thing for a person is not to humiliate his ancestors, the second is not to humiliate himself, the third is not to be humiliated by others' faces, and the third is not to be humiliated by others' words.
Once again, I was tied to the ground and humiliated, once again I was humiliated by wearing prison clothes, once again I was beaten by sticks with shackles, once again I was humiliated by shaving my head and wearing shackles, once again I was humiliated by disfigurement and limb, and the worst thing was corruption and humiliation to the extreme.
Extended data
Creative background:
This article is Sima Qian's reply to Ren An. Ren An, a friend of Sima Qian's, once wrote to Sima Qian in prison, asking him to use his position as a secretariat to "recommend sages as scholars". Sima Qian wrote this letter back to him, explaining his difficulties and asking for his forgiveness.
Overall evaluation:
Bao Ren An Shu is the first lyric long letter in the history of China classical literature, which is extremely rich in content. The ideological content of this letter is mainly manifested in four aspects:
First, it reflects the glorious character of Sima Qian and some bad behaviors of feudal rulers;
Second, it reflects the darkness and cruelty of the feudal prison system;
Thirdly, the theory of "writing books with anger" was put forward for the first time in the history of China literature.
Fourth, expose the attitude of feudal emperors towards historians and their own writing of historical records.
In the letter, the author angrily stated his unfortunate experience and expressed his painful feelings that he had to bear the burden of humiliation for the book Historical Records. Sima Qian's lofty life belief and dedication to Historical Records have profound enlightenment and educational value.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Report Ren Anshu