"Heavier than Mount Tai" comes from Sima Qian of the Han Dynasty's "Report to Ren Shaoqing": Everyone is destined to die, and it may be heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather, depending on how it is used.

“Everyone is destined to die, and it may be heavier than Mount Tai, or lighter than a feather, depending on how it is used.” It means that everyone will die once, some are heavier than Mount Tai, and some are lighter than feathers. Light, it just depends on everyone's choice.

Extended information:

A story about the fact that death is inevitable, and it may be heavier than Mount Tai, or lighter than a feather:

During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, a Chinese emperor was born. The great historian, he is Sima Qian.

When he was young, Sima Qian was influenced by his father and read ancient books very much. When he was 20 years old, he traveled around and collected a lot of information about ancient celebrities. Later, he was appointed as a doctor and could often travel with the emperor.

In 110 BC (the first year of Yuanfeng in the Western Han Dynasty), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty consecrated Mount Tai for the first time. As a historian, Sima Qian's father was supposed to come to Mount Tai to participate in the consecration, but he stayed in Luoyang for some reason. He regarded participating in the Fengchan ceremony as a major event in his political life. He was extremely regretful and disappointed that he could not travel east to attend the Zen Ceremony. He eventually became ill and bedridden from worry.

At this time, Sima Qian happened to meet his father after returning from a trip, so he held Sima Qian's hand and said with tears: "Our ancestors were officials in the Zhou Dynasty, and our distant ancestors also made great contributions to the Xia Dynasty. The leader of hundreds of officials will gradually weaken in the future. Will the heaven be destroyed by me?

If you can succeed the official position of Taishi, you can inherit the ancestral legacy of the Han Dynasty for thousands of years. The great ruler of Mount Tai conferred the title of Zen on Mount Tai, but I cannot accompany him. This is destined! After my death, you will definitely succeed the official position of Taishi. When you become Taishi, don’t forget my desire to write books and establish expositions. ."

Shortly after his father's death, Sima Qian took over his post as Taishi Ling. After becoming the Taishi Ling, Sima Qian read many books and took a lot of notes. In 104 BC, he began writing "Historical Records". But at this moment, something unfortunate happened.

In this year, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent General Li Guangli of the Second Division to lead 30,000 troops to attack the Xiongnu. They suffered a huge defeat and almost wiped out the entire army. Li Guangli escaped back. Li Guang's grandson Li Ling was serving as the cavalry captain and led 5,000 infantrymen to fight against the Huns.

Finally, Li Ling was caught by the Huns and surrendered. The news of Li Ling's surrender to the Huns shocked the court. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty put Li Ling's mother, wife and children in prison, and summoned the ministers to discuss Li Ling's crimes.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty asked Taishi Ling Sima Qian for his opinion. Sima Qian said: "The infantry Li Ling brought was less than five thousand. He went deep into the enemy's hinterland and attacked tens of thousands of enemies. Although he lost the battle, he killed so many enemies and he can give an account to the world. Li Ling didn't If he is willing to die immediately, he must have his own ideas. He must also want to repay the emperor by atonement." After hearing this, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty thought that Sima Qian defended Li Ling like this, and he was furious and said, "You. Isn't it deliberately against the imperial court to defend those who surrendered to the enemy like this?" He shouted, and moved Sima to prison and handed him over to the Tingwei for interrogation. After interrogation, Sima Qian was convicted and should be tortured (a kind of corporal punishment). Sima Qian could not afford the money to atone for his crime, so he had to accept the punishment and be imprisoned in prison.

Sima Qian thought that being tortured was a very shameful thing, so he thought of committing suicide, but he also thought: In the past, King Wen of Zhou was imprisoned in Youli and wrote a "Book of Changes"; Confucius traveled around the world He was trapped in Chen Cai on the road and later compiled a "Spring and Autumn"; Qu Yuan was exiled and wrote "Li Sao"; Zuo Qiuming was blind and wrote "Guoyu"; Sun Bin had his kneecaps gouged out and wrote "Li Sao" art of war".

There are also 300 chapters in the Book of Songs, most of which were written by the ancients when they were feeling anxious and angry. These famous works were written when the author was depressed or when his ideals were not feasible. Why don't I use this time to write this history?

In this way, in order to complete the task of historical writing, Sima Qian endured pain and worked hard to write it. Later, he was finally released from prison. After he was released from prison, he expressed his painful feelings after being sentenced in the "Book of Reporting to Ren An" to his friend Ren An, and mentioned his intention to write "Historical Records" and his determination to complete it.

In this famous letter, Sima Qian said: Everyone is destined to die, and it may be heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather. I cannot die easily. The reason why I endured humiliation and endured great humiliation and survived was entirely to complete my historical work.

Sima Qian relied on his strong perseverance and worked hard to write. After thirteen winters and summers of hard work, he finally wrote the earliest general history of our country - "Historical Records". "Historical Records" started from the legendary Huangdi era and ended in the second year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (95 BC). It has been compiled into 130 chapters and 520,000 words, and the content involves politics, Economic, cultural, military and other aspects.

"Historical Records" is both a great historical work and an outstanding literary work. He and his book "Historical Records" enjoy a high status in the history of history and literature in our country. Mr. Lu Xun called it "the swan song of historians and the rhymeless Li Sao".

Baidu Encyclopedia—Lighter than a feather