1. Chen Sheng: "Is the sparrow aware of the ambition of a swan?

(How can a sparrow know the lofty ambition of a swan? For example, how can an ordinary person know the ambition of a hero? )

There was a man named Chen She in Yangcheng (now Fangcheng County, Henan Province) in the Qin Dynasty. When he was young, he was hired to farm for a rich family with others. One day, he put down his farm work and rested on the ridge of the field. He was resentful of the social reality of the Qin Dynasty's unscrupulous forced labor and increasing oppression and exploitation of the people, and he was determined to get rid of oppression and exploitation and change his current social status.

and said to his companions, "If any of us becomes rich in the future, we can't forget each other." His companions laughed at him: "How can you get rich if you are hired to farm for others?" Chen She sighed a long time and said, "Where can a sparrow know the lofty aspirations of a swan?"

in July of the first year of Qin Ershi (Hu Hai) (29 BC), Chen She and Wu Guang launched a peasant uprising and established the first peasant regime in China's history. Although the regime did not last long, it finally overthrew the harsh rule of the Qin Dynasty.

2. Tao Yuanming: Don't bow down for five buckets of rice

Tao Yuanming, a great poet in the late Eastern Jin Dynasty, was a celebrity, and his great-grandfather was a famous Eastern Jin Fu. When he was young, Tao Yuanming had the ambition of "benefiting the whole life", but in the turbulent years when the country was on the verge of collapse, Tao Yuanming's ambition could not be realized at all. In addition, his personality is honest and frank, clear and honest, and he doesn't want to grovel and cling to the powerful, so he has a sharp contradiction with the dirty and dark real society and has a feeling of being out of place.

In order to survive, Tao Yuanming worked as a junior official in the state at first, but because he didn't like the bad style in officialdom, he soon resigned and went home. Later, in order to make a living, he also worked in some low-ranking official positions one after another, and lived a life of hiding and being an official. The last time Tao Yuanming became an official was in the first year of Yixi (45). That year, Tao Yuanming, who had passed the "year of no doubt" (41 years old), was persuaded by his friends to serve as Pengze County Magistrate again.

On one occasion, the county sent Du You to understand the situation. Someone told Tao Yuanming: Those people were sent from above, and they should be dressed neatly and respectfully to meet them. After listening to this, Tao Yuanming gave a long sigh: "I don't want to be humble and pay attention to these guys for the five salaries of a small county magistrate." Say that finish, just quit his official position and went home. Tao Yuanming became Pengze county magistrate, but it was only more than eighty days. He left his post this time and left the officialdom forever.

after that, he took part in agricultural labor while studying as a writer. Later, due to the continuous disaster of farmland, the house was burned down and the family situation deteriorated. However, he never wanted to be an official again, and even the rice and meat sent by Jiangzhou assassins refused to accept it. The imperial court once called him as a writer, but he refused.

Tao Yuanming died in poverty and illness. He could have lived comfortably, at least with food and clothing, but at the cost of his personality and integrity. Tao Yuanming won the freedom of mind and the dignity of personality because he "didn't bend his back for five buckets of rice", and wrote a generation of poems with a style of writing that will last forever.

while leaving precious literary wealth for future generations, it also left precious spiritual wealth. He has become a model for future generations of people with lofty ideals in China because of his upright character of "not bending over for five buckets of rice".

3. Qu Yuan said, "The whole world is turbid and I am alone, and everyone is drunk and I wake up alone."

(translation: everyone is corrupt, everyone is intoxicated, and I am an incorruptible and sober person)

Qu Yuan's "splashing mud" and "feeding bad things" took a road of self-protection that was ups and downs with the world and far harmful to the whole body. From thought to behavior, there is no high standard of independence, which leads to exile for oneself.

The conversation between Qu Yuan and the fisherman after his exile shows Qu Yuan's noble qualities of loyalty to the monarch and patriotism. Everyone is dirty, and I am the only one who is clean. Everyone was drunk, and I was the only one awake, which was the reason for being exiled. This may sound strange, but when you think about it, it's really an eternal truth.

just think, if everyone is corrupt and intoxicated, how can we tolerate a clean and sober person? Being excluded, exiled, but also charged with adultery. In just two sentences, the fatuity and decay of Chu State are summarized incisively and vividly; On the other hand, it shows Qu Yuan's loyal and noble Tsuihiji.

4. Zhu Ziqing: I would rather starve to death than receive American relief food

Zhu Ziqing is a professor in the Chinese Department of Tsinghua University. At the beginning of 1948, the People's Liberation War entered the final stage. In June, students in Beiping started a movement against the United States supporting Japanese militarism. At that time, Zhu Ziqing was seriously ill and had no money for medical treatment, but he did not hesitate to write, "To show the dignity and integrity of the people of China, we categorically rejected all handouts, whether purchased or given, from the United States.". Signed his name on the declaration.

At the beginning of August, Zhu Ziqing's illness became worse, and he died on the 12th. He was only 5 years old at that time. Before he died, Zhu Ziqing urged his family in a weak voice: "One thing to remember is that I signed the document rejecting American flour, and our family will not buy American flour from the National X Party in the future! "

5. Li Bai: oh, how can I gravely bow and scrape to men of high rank and men of high office, who never will suffer being shown an honest-hearted face.

(translation: I can't grovel to serve the powerful, so that I can't have a comfortable smile. )

Source: tianmu Mountain Ascended in a Dream by Li Bai in the Tang Dynasty.

shows the poet's pride and unyielding, and of course, shows contempt for the powerful. He and Tao Qian's ethics of not bowing down for the bucket of rice are in the same strain.