The four great joys in life include sweet rain after a long drought, meeting an old friend in a foreign land, the night of flowers and candles in the wedding room, and the time when someone is named on the gold medal list. The four great tragedies in life refer to the loss of parents in youth, the loss of a spouse in middle age, the loss of an only son in old age, and the loss of a young son without a good teacher.
The source of the Four Joys: "Poems of the Child Prodigy·Four Joys"
"Poems of the Child Prodigy·Four Joys" was written by Wang Zhu, courtesy name Dewen, who was born in the late Northern Song Dynasty.
Wang Zhu composed poems when he was nine years old and is known as a "child prodigy". Wang Zhu is talented in poetry. He has written many poems with quatrains, which are short poems that are easy for children to memorize. There is a compilation and interpretation of more than thirty five-character quatrains written by Wang Zhu, the school master at that time, titled "Poems of Wang Prodigy".
The words of "Poems of Prodigy" are easy to understand and very suitable for children to memorize. It is known as "ancient and modern wonder book" along with "Three Character Classic" and has become the main teaching material for educating children. It has been widely circulated and has had the greatest influence. Profound.
A saying comes from "Rong Zhai Essays·Four Strokes·Volume 8·Poems of Prosperity and Frustration" by Hong Mai of the Southern Song Dynasty: "A long drought brings sweet rain, meeting an old friend in a foreign land; the night of flowers and candles in the bridal chamber, when the gold medal is inscribed."
Source of the Four Great Tragedies: "Rong Zhai's Four Poems of Prosperity and Frustration" by Hongmai of the Song Dynasty
Extended information:
In the early Ming Dynasty, Jiangxi talented scholar Xie Jin wrote four poems Based on the four happy events in the happy poems, we created the "Four Happiness Dolls" with "the four happy events in the same situation".
The doll has a plump body, delicate eyebrows, heavy ears, and a childish and lifelike appearance. This bronze sculpture is square in shape, about 8 centimeters in length, width and height. It is shaped like a pair of lively and cute dolls tied with bellybands, holding a banana fan in one hand and a gold ingot in the other, showing a naughty and playful look.
After clever combination, two dolls are transformed into four children playing together. No matter which angle you view it from, the children are standing or lying on their backs or facing each other, forming four complete children with each other. This is the exquisite and unique design of the "Sixi Doll".
Baidu Encyclopedia—Four Happiness Dolls
Baidu Encyclopedia—Four Sadnesses and Four Happinesses