A saying and story that benefits a child's entire life

Author: Wu Yucheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: "Since ancient times, who has not faced death? Preserve your loyal heart to shine through history." Wen Tianxiang lived in the late Southern Song Dynasty, an era of humiliation and turmoil. At that time, the Mongols established the Yuan Dynasty in the north, and Kublai Khan, the Yuan ruler, sent Prime Minister Bo Yan to lead 200,000 troops to attack the Southern Song Dynasty, causing the Southern Song court to teeter on the brink of collapse. Wen Tianxiang was then serving as the prefect of Ganzhou, Jiangxi, and seeing the urgent situation, he hastily recruited 10,000 volunteer soldiers to rush to the capital Lin'an (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang) to rescue the Southern Song. At this time, the Southern Song court was in chaos, even the prime minister fled in fear. The cowards who feared death handed the heavy responsibility to the newly arrived Wen Tianxiang, asking him to negotiate with the Yuan army. Wen Tianxiang knew that the mission was fraught with danger, but for the greater good, he bravely stepped forward. In the Yuan army's camp, Bo Yan used force to pressure Wen Tianxiang to surrender, but Wen Tianxiang remained fearless and refused outright. Bo Yan flew into a rage and imprisoned Wen Tianxiang and his entourage. In prison, Wen Tianxiang remained steadfast and thought only of the nation's peril. He managed to escape from the tiger's mouth and, after enduring countless hardships, reached Fu'an (now Fuzhou). While Wen Tianxiang was being held captive, the Southern Song court had already surrendered, and Emperor Gongzong was taken away. Minister Lu Xiufu had no choice but to retreat to Fu'an with a group of people and establish a 11-year-old boy as emperor. Soon after, this young emperor also died in exile. Lu Xiufu and the anti-Jin general Zhang Shijie had no choice but to establish an 8-year-old emperor, who was chased by the Yuan army and eventually retreated to a sea island called Ya Mountain. Although Wen Tianxiang knew the situation was dire, he still persisted in resisting the enemy. He recruited more volunteer soldiers and advanced towards Jiangxi, fighting the invading Yuan army but suffering repeated setbacks due to being outnumbered. He had no choice but to retreat to the territory of Guangdong. Later, after a fierce battle with the Yuan army, Wen Tianxiang was unfortunately captured again in Haifeng. When the Yuan army commander heard that Wen Tianxiang had been captured, he was overjoyed and quickly sent Zhang Hongfan, who had surrendered to the Yuan army and was enfeoffed as a marshal, to persuade Wen Tianxiang to surrender. Wen Tianxiang, upon seeing this traitor, flew into a rage and scolded him fiercely, making him blush and feel extremely embarrassed. Zhang Hongfan, enraged and humiliated, had Wen Tianxiang brought onto a warship and forced him to chase the young emperor on Ya Mountain. The general defending Ya Mountain was Zhang Shijie, a staunch anti-Jin fighter who still had a small army. To quickly end the war and seize the glory, Zhang Hongfan repeatedly pressured Wen Tianxiang to write a letter urging Zhang Shijie to surrender, and sent one of his generals, a man named Li, to constantly harass Wen Tianxiang. When the ship passed through Lingdingyang, it was already close to Ya Mountain. Wen Tianxiang recalled the fall of the court and his own predicament, and his emotions surged like the tide, unable to calm down. He then spread out paper and wrote the poem "Passing Lingdingyang." As soon as the poem was finished, the general named Li came again to demand the surrender letter. Wen Tianxiang was furious and scolded him: "Saving the country is like saving one's parents. I, Wen Tianxiang, cannot save my parents and am doomed to die. How can I urge others not to save their parents, only to ask them to harm their parents?" The general named Li, seeing the paper filled with writing, thought it was a surrender letter and kept asking for it with a smiling face. Wen Tianxiang sneered contemptuously and waved his hand, throwing away the poem.