World Children's Story Classics: Family Stories

Chapter 79
Li Mi, there are not detailed records about him in history, but his concise and simple "Chen Qing Biao" has only 40 words, but because of his sincere writing, sincere words, and filial piety, he moved people and has been recited by people throughout the ages.Li Mi was just a few months old when his father died. When he was four years old, his mother was forced by his uncle to remarry.After encountering so many blows, he became very sad at a young age. In addition to being weak and sick, he could not walk when he was nine years old.Thanks to his grandmother's single-handed upbringing, he was able to grow up.Although Li Mi suffered misfortune when he was young, he loved reading since he was a child. He often read at night by candlelight and read a lot.When he became an adult, he was famous for his ability in handling affairs, quick thinking and eloquence. The court asked him to be an official again and again, but he declined because he took care of the elderly.He never leaves the old man for a long time. The old man is frail and sick. He always cooks soup and medicine himself to take care of the old man.When he was in his 90s, Sima Yan abolished Emperor Wei, became emperor himself, and established the Western Jin Dynasty.Sima Yan sent an imperial envoy to summon Li Mi to Luoyang, the capital, to serve as an official, and urged him to get on the road as soon as possible.Li Mi looked at his bedridden grandmother, in a dilemma. He was afraid of violating the edict, resisting the decree and calling for disasters, and he couldn't bear to leave his grandmother alone. So he took up the pen and ink, wrote the "Chen Qing Biao", and handed it to the imperial envoy. Presented to the emperor.In the table, Li Mi explained the kindness of his grandmother in nurturing him. Now her grandmother in her [-]s is getting more and more ill. She is dying like the sun is about to set on the west mountain. Her life is very critical. Can't survive the night.I don’t have my grandmother, so I wouldn’t be where I am today. Without him, there would be no one to take care of her in her later years. The grandparents and grandchildren are really dependent on each other. At that time, the emperor Sima Yan was advertising "governing the world with filial piety". Moved by his filial piety, he sighed and said: "Li Mi is really famous for nothing!" So he agreed to Li Mi's request and gave him generous treatment in life.

Later, people used the idiom "depending on each other" in "Chen Qing Biao" to describe the close relationship between two people who rely on each other and who cannot do without the other.

(End of this chapter)