Since the Spring and Autumn Period, China’s most scholastic schools along with their leaders had taken form. Those great ones include Confucius the forefather of education, Lu Ban the founder of carpentry, Fan Li the earliest businessman and Paoding the forerunner of cooking. Moreover, thoughts of these schools have been transmitted through many brilliant idioms to this day.
“Stealing a Ring with Covered Ears”. Once upon a time, a silly thief wanted to steal a house’s door-ring. So, he tried to break the ring with a hammer, only to get himself caught by the owner on the spot. That damned fellow is the muddle-headed thief famous from old times to now.
“A Pair of Soul Mates”. This tale tells us how Boya, a lute player in the Spring and Autumn Period, met with his soul mate. Later Feng Menglong, Ming Era’s storywriter, added Yu to Boya as a surname. Long time ago, Boya, Grand Master of Jin State, returned home by boat. When the boat got moored midway at the bank on the Mid-Autumn Night, Boya played his lute artfully amid the inviting scenery. All of a sudden, some fellow clapped his hands on the riverbank. That turned out a woodcutter called Zhong Ziqi, who made such loud noise unconsciously. The guy, attracted by the tuneful melody, told Boya candidly, there were lofty mountains and gurgling waters behind the melody. That ethereal realm went far beyond language. Hearing this remark made Boya overjoyed and thus thought the woodcutter was his unique soul mate. They made an appointment to meet again here. When Boya visited there once more, Zhong Ziqi had long passed away. So, Boya sadly threw his lute on the ground, breaking it into tiny pieces. The great musician had never played his lute since then. This sculpture brings alive a harmonious scene, in which Boya plays his lute heartily and Zhong Ziqi listens with his head leaning on one arm. Lute and mind blends into each other so as to create the so-called communion between this pair of mates.
“Making the Number”. This alludes to King Xuan of Qi State, a mad aficionado of Yu the ancient instrument. The king had 300 musicians at hand. One Mr Nanguo, knowing nothing about the instrument, joined the awesome band as if he were expert at playing it. During the playing process, he often shook his head like others. He behaved like that for three years. Later when King Xuan died, his son, Min King, loved solos instead. Consequently, Nanguo had no choice but to flee on that night with fright. He is the famous Nanguo in history. Just take a look—now he is still increasing the number here!
