(1) Sincerity leads to gold and stone. During the Western Han Dynasty, there was a famous general named Li Guang. He was good at horseback riding and archery and was very brave in battle. He was called the "Flying General".

Once, when he went hunting at the southern foot of Mingshan Mountain, he suddenly found a tiger crouching in the grass.

Li Guang hurriedly bent his bow and arrow, concentrated on it, and used all his strength to shoot the arrow.

Li Guang was a good archer. He thought the tiger must have been hit by an arrow and died, so he walked closer and took a closer look. Unexpectedly, what he was hit by was a big stone that looked like a tiger.

Not only did the arrow penetrate deeply into the stone, but almost all of the arrow tail also penetrated into the stone.

Li Guang was surprised. He didn't believe that he could have such great strength, so he wanted to try again, so he took a few steps back, drew his bow and nocked an arrow, and shot at the stone with all his strength.

However, several arrows were not shot in. Some arrows were broken, some arrow shafts were broken, but the big stone was not damaged at all.

People were surprised and puzzled by this incident, so they went to consult the scholar Yang Xiong.

Yang Xiong replied: "If you are sincere, even something as hard as gold and stone will be moved." The idiom "where sincerity reaches, gold and stone will open" has been passed down from this.

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-------------------------------- Author: Breathe freely -- Release time: 2005-11-20 22:40:

00-- (2) Remembering the past is the guide for the future. In 379 BC, the prince of Qi claimed to be king because Qi came to the throne. He was King Wei of Qi.

King Wei of Qi, in the first few years after he came to power, ignored state affairs and drank and had fun. As a result, the country gradually declined and people's lives became difficult.

One day, a man named Zou Mingji came to knock on the door, claiming to know how to play the piano. He knew that King Wei loved music, so he came to see him.

King Wei called him in and gave him his harp.

Zou Ji just stroked the strings without playing.

King Wei asked: "Sir, why are you just stroking and not playing? Is the qin bad?" Zou Ji let go of the qin and said seriously: "I understand the principles of the qin. As for playing the qin, that is the business of the musicians."

He talked a lot about piano theory.

King Wei was impatient, so he interrupted him and said, "Sir, since he knows the theory of qin, he must be good at playing it. I would like you to try playing a piece and listen to it." Zou Ji (zōu jì) replied: "I want to study the theory of qin."

Of course he is good at playing; the king's duty is to govern the country, isn't he good at state affairs? Now that the king is on the throne but does not govern the country, what is the difference between the king and the minister who only touches the strings but does not play?

If you don't play, you can't satisfy the king's wishes. If the king is on the throne and doesn't care about political affairs, I'm afraid he can't satisfy the wishes of the people!" King Wei was shocked and said, "Sir, you persuaded me with the principle of playing the harp. I understand your intention.

!" So he left Zou Ji to discuss national affairs with him.

Zou Ji advised King Wei to drink less, stay away from women, be practical, distinguish between loyal and traitors, love the people, rectify the armaments, and run the overlord's business.

"Never forget the past, the teacher of the future", King Wei was so convinced that he immediately worshiped Zou Ji as the prime minister.

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-------------------------------- Author: Breathe freely -- Release time: 2005-11-20 22:40:

00-- (3) During the Western Han Dynasty, there was a farmer's child named Kuang Heng.

He wanted to study very much when he was a child, but because his family was poor, he had no money to go to school.

Later, he learned to read from a relative and gained the ability to read.

Kuang Heng couldn't afford books, so he had to borrow books to read.

At that time, books were very valuable, and people who owned them would not lend them to others easily.

Kuang Heng worked part-time for wealthy people during the busy farming season. He didn't pay any wages and only asked people to lend him books to read.

After a few years, Kuang Heng grew up and became the main labor force in the family.

He worked in the fields all day long, and only had time to read a little while taking a break at noon, so it often took ten and a half days to finish a book.

Kuang Heng was very anxious and thought to himself: I plant crops during the day and don’t have time to read. I can use more time at night to read.

But Kuang Heng’s family was very poor and couldn’t buy oil for lighting lamps. What should he do?

One night, Kuang Heng was lying on the bed and reciting the books he had read during the day.

Carrying it on my back, I suddenly saw a ray of light coming from the east wall.

He stood up in a hurry, walked to the wall and took a look, ah!

It turned out that what came through the cracks in the wall was the neighbor's light.

So Kuang Heng thought of a way: he took a knife and dug a larger gap in the wall.

In this way, the light that came through was also greater, so he leaned against the light that came through and read a book.

Kuang Heng studied hard in this way and later became a very knowledgeable person.