1. Grinding a Needle with an Iron Pestle

Storyline: This article comes from "Fangyu Shenglan", which tells the story of the great poet Li Bai who gave up school because he had trouble studying when he was a child. On the way out of school, I met an old woman grinding needles with an iron pestle. This deeply touched me, so I finally studied hard and became successful in my studies.

“As long as you work hard, an iron pestle can be ground into a needle” comes from this story. This sentence has also become a famous aphorism that inspires future generations to persevere in their studies.

2. Hearing the Rooster and Dancing

The story comes from "Book of Jin·Zu Ti Zhuan". Legend has it that Zu Ti, a general in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was very ambitious when he was young. Whenever he discussed the current situation with his friend Liu Kun, he would always be impassioned and full of righteous indignation. In order to serve the country, they would get up and draw their swords as soon as they heard the rooster crow in the middle of the night. Practice martial arts and train hard.

The idiom "Dance upon hearing the chicken" describes a person who is energetic and promising, and also a metaphor for people with lofty ideals to cheer up in time.

3. Mend the situation after the sheep have died

Once upon a time there was a sheep farmer. One morning when he was tending the sheep, he found a hole in the sheepfold. At night, a wolf came in through the hole and took away a sheep. Sheep. The neighbor advised the man: "Repair the sheepfold quickly!" But the man said: "The sheep have been lost, so why repair the sheepfold?" But early the next morning, when the man went to herd the sheep, he found that the wolf had come out of the hole again. He got in and took away a sheep. He regretted not listening to his neighbor and quickly repaired the hole in the sheepfold. Since then, his sheep have never been lost.

The idiom "mend the situation before it is too late" expresses the meaning that after a mistake has been made in handling something, it is not too late if you rush to save it.

4. Blind men touching the elephant

Three blind men walked to the elephant together. A blind man touched the elephant's leg and asked, "What kind of animal do I think an elephant is?" It turned out to be just a thick pillar. Another blind man touched the elephant's trunk and said that the elephant was round and soft like a snake. Another blind man touched the elephant's tail and said that the elephant was like a whip.

This story illustrates that for some things, what you see or hear may not be the truth. You cannot speculate on other things based on your own preferences.

5. Sit back and wait for the rabbit

A farmer accidentally picked up a rabbit that was knocked unconscious on a tree stump. He imagined that he would no longer have to work and would only have to wait for the tree stump to eat. The story of getting nothing in the end.

The idiom "waiting for the rabbit" is a metaphor for getting something for nothing, or clinging to a narrow experience without knowing how to adapt.

6. Pulling seedlings to encourage growth

In the ancient Song Dynasty, there was an impatient farmer who always felt that the seedlings in the field grew too slowly. One day, he finally thought of a way, so he hurried to the field and pulled up the seedlings one by one. Finally, it was found that the seedlings were all withered and dead.

This story tells us that we must not learn from the farmers of the Song Dynasty. Everything has its order. If you destroy the order just because you want to finish it early, in the end not only will you not be able to finish it early, but Nothing accomplished.

7. Buy a casket and return a pearl

A man from Chu State went to Zheng State to sell pearls. In order to sell it at a good price, he used precious magnolia wood to make a very delicate box for the pearl, and also decorated the box with many pearls and jade. A man from the state of Zheng saw that the box was very beautiful, so he bought the box and returned the jewelry to the people of the state of Chu.

Zheng people only valued appearance and ignored the essence, which made him make improper choices at the expense of the basics; and Chu people's "excessive packaging" was also a bit ridiculous.

8. Playing Yu to make up for one's performance

During the Warring States Period, King Xuan of Qi loved music very much. Mr. Nan Guo, who made a living by bragging, asked someone to introduce him to King Xuan of Qi, saying that he was a Yu player. A master, so King Qi Xuan invited Mr. Nan Guo to join the ensemble band; Mr. Nan Guo pretended to play the piano in the band every day, but in fact he made no sound at all, but he could still get a high salary and eat delicious meals; later, King Qi Xuan died, and love The king of Qi who listened to the solo became the king. Seeing that Mr. Nanguo couldn't hide it, he slipped away quietly.

You can deceive some people at some time, but you cannot deceive everyone all the time. Mr. Nanguo doesn't know how to play the Yu and pretends to be able to play the Yu, but eventually his flaws will be revealed.

9. Search for Ji according to the picture

The idiom of Search for Ji according to the picture tells the story of the Spring and Autumn Period. A man named Sun Yang from the Qin State wrote a book to introduce various good horses. His son I want to continue his career. One day his son took the book and went looking for Chollima, but what he brought back was a toad.

Looking for a good horse based on the image means being rigid and rigid in doing things. Now it means following the clues to find it. Suo means searching and seeking, Ji means a good horse.

10. Learning to walk in Handan

During the Warring States Period, there was a young man in the Shouling Mausoleum of Yan State. Hearing that the Handan people of Zhao State walked very beautifully, he came to Handan to learn how the Handan people walked. As a result, he not only failed to learn Zhao Guoren's walking posture, but also forgot his original walking posture, and finally had to crawl back.

The story comes from "Zhuangzi Autumn Waters". The idiom "Learning in Handan" refers to imitating others mechanically. Not only will you fail to learn from others' strengths, but you will also lose your own strengths and abilities.