A famous saying by Dong Qichang of the Ming Dynasty.

Original source:

In the Ming Dynasty, Dong Qichang's "Essays on Painting a Zen Room—Volume 2" contains: "People in the past commented on New Year paintings and said that they had thousands of books in their chests. Even more surprising, In addition, during the New Year, the clan is not allowed to travel far away. Every time they return to the mausoleum, they have to write about the mountains and valleys in their hearts. If they don’t travel thousands of miles and read thousands of books, how can they achieve the goal of painting the ancestors?”

Translation: Before Some people commented on Danian's paintings and said that he had thousands of books in his chest. What's even more amazing is that on New Year's Eve, because the clan can't travel, they have to come back. Only by writing about the hills and valleys in my heart can I draw thousands of miles and read thousands of books. If I want to draw, can I draw it?

Extended information

In ancient times, Wanjuan refers to the emperor's examination papers. I studied in order to go to Beijing to take the exam and get the title on the gold medal list. It is a metaphor that you should study hard to make your talents better than others and let what you have learned be reflected in life. At the same time, you should increase your knowledge, combine theory with practice, and apply what you have learned.

"Traveling" is understood as learning in practice. Human evolution begins with walking. From the trees to the ground, the first thing to learn is to walk. The purpose of walking is to get more food and find a safe place to rest. It also broadens our horizons and learns a lot of useful knowledge. Dayu understood the principle of flood control that it is better to dredge and not to block floods while following his father's control of floods.

Confucius attached great importance to the role of practice in learning, and confirmed what he learned by traveling around the world to govern the country. Li Shizhen, Xu Xiake, Marco Polo, Darwin, and Columbus all wrote magnificent works or made major discoveries by "traveling". It can be seen that "traveling thousands of miles" is much more important than "reading thousands of books".

Use an analogy to the relationship between "reading" and "traveling": "Reading thousands of books" is like seeing the golden mountain of knowledge and ability through a window, but if you want to truly get the golden mountain of knowledge and ability, It also depends on getting out of the door and “traveling thousands of miles”.