During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, Uighur in the Western Regions was a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Once, in order to show its friendship with the Tang Dynasty, Uighur sent an envoy Mian Bogao to visit the king of the Tang Dynasty. Among these tributes, the most precious one was a rare bird-the white swan.
Mian Bogao is most worried about this white swan. If anything happens to him, how can he tell Guoyi? So, along the way, he personally fed the water and didn't dare to neglect it for a moment.
On this day, Mian Bogao came to the mian yang River and saw the white swan craning its neck, opening its mouth and panting. Mian Bogao couldn't bear it, so he opened the cage and took the white swan to the water's edge to let it have a good drink. Who knows, the white swan drank enough water, closed its neck and closed its wings, and flew to the sky with a "splash"! Mian Bogao jumped forward, plucking only a few feathers, but failed to catch the white swan, watching it fly without a trace. At that time, Mian Bogao held a few white goose feathers and stood in a daze in wait for a while, thinking back and forth about a question in his mind: "What should I do? Tribute? What should I take to see Emperor Taizong? Go back? How dare you go to see the Uighur king! After much deliberation, Mian Bogao decided to continue his eastward journey. He took out a piece of white silk, wrapped the goose feather carelessly, and wrote a poem on the silk: "Swan pays tribute to the Tang Dynasty, and the mountains and roads are farther away. The treasure of the mian yang River is lost, and it is difficult to throw it back to Uighur. I am the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and I apologize to Mian Bogao, who cares less about things and cares more about people, and send goose feathers thousands of miles away! "?
Mian Bogao took jewels and goose feathers, put on a star in Dai Yue, and soon arrived in Chang 'an. Emperor Taizong met Mian Bogao, and Mian Bogao presented goose feathers. After reading the poem, Emperor Taizong listened to Mian Bogao's complaint, instead of blaming him, he felt that Mian Bogao was loyal and honest, and did not disgrace his mission, so he was heavily rewarded.
Since then, the story of "a thousand miles to send goose feathers, courtesy is light and affection is heavy" has spread widely.