From the Wall in Prison by Tan Sitong, a modern reformist politician and thinker.
Original text:
Desperate to stop thinking about James Zhang, he endured death and treated Dugan for a while.
My smile goes from the horizontal knife to the sky and stays in the liver and gallbladder.
Translation:
The rush of life is too stressful, so I come to live with everyone. I hope the dead Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao can be protected by people like James Zhang. I also hope that my comrades can stand by and accomplish the great cause of political reform and reform like Dugan.
I drew my sword and laughed at the sky, because the deceased and the survivors were sincere and aboveboard, as majestic as Kunlun Mountain.
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This poem expresses the praise and blessing for the reform leader who died while avoiding disaster, the hatred and contempt for the stubborn forces who blocked the reform, and also expresses the heroic feelings of the poet who is willing to die for his own ideal.
"Looking at the door and thinking about James Zhang" refers to Tan Sitong's concern for the safety of Kang Youwei and others who fled hastily. Selfish request: They may be accepted and protected by those who support political reform, just like James Zhang.
"Endure Death for a while" tells the story of a righteous official in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Empress Deng alluded to Cixi through allusions, and the incident was exactly the same. There is both condemnation of suppressing the atrocities of reformers and deep hope that reformers will make a comeback. This sentence mainly means that although the Reform Movement of 1898 has been hit hard at present, as a man with lofty ideals who is determined to reform and innovate, he should aim high and endure death to survive. Wait for the opportunity with a view to further development.
"I laugh at heaven with a horizontal knife" is derived from the above two sentences: if Kanghe can escape safely and sit back and relax, then I will be sorry for my life, and I should face the bloody butcher knife calmly and laugh at heaven.
Let the devil's palace tremble in laughter. The poet Tan Sitong is ready to die. When the coup took place, his comrades tried many times to persuade him to stay in the Japanese embassy, but he flatly refused. It was because he made up his mind to die that he was able to remain calm and die without regret.