100 Historical Stories That Unlock Teenage Wisdom

Chapter 19 8 Zhong Yin hides his identity and studies flowers and birds

Chapter 28 Zhong Yin hides his identity and studies flowers and birds

——Lower your posture to learn art In any era, humility is a kind of strength, supporting you to work harder for your beliefs and achieve success.

In the Five Dynasties and Southern Tang Dynasty, there was a painter named Zhong Yin. He liked painting since he was a child. He was taught by famous teachers and practiced hard by himself. He became famous at a young age.Since then, there has been an endless stream of guests at home, some are looking for painting, some are seeking advice, some are discussing painting skills, and of course there are also those who flatter and flatter, it is very lively.If it were a superficial person, when encountering such a situation, he would definitely be complacent and complacent, but Zhong Yin was indifferent to all this, and still devoted himself to painting in the study every day, and let his family do all the entertainment except as a last resort.Unintentionally, even his new wife was left out in the cold.

Zhong Yin knew very well that he was already very skilled in landscape painting, but still lacked in flower-and-bird painting.A year of self-study is worse than a day of apprenticeship.If you want to draw well, you must have a famous teacher to guide you, so as not to go astray and get twice the result with half the effort.He asked around where there were any famous masters who were good at painting flowers and birds, so that he could go and learn from them.But after inquiring for a long time, Zhong Yin found nothing, and Zhong Yin was very troubled.On this day, he had a drink with his old friend Hou Liang. When the wine was full, the two of them talked a lot.Zhong Yin told about his troubles, and asked Hou Liang if he could recommend a famous teacher who was good at painting flowers and birds.Hou Liang said: "You have found the right person. My brother-in-law Guo Qianhui is very good at painting flowers and birds. My wife said that once he painted peonies and attracted bees. But this person has a weird and withdrawn personality. Not to mention accepting students, even the paintings he draws are not easily seen by others. What's even more strange is that he always hides from people when he paints, for fear that people will steal his techniques."

Zhong Yin thinks Guo Qianhui is very interesting.He is so conservative, I am afraid there must be a trick.But how can I get close to him?It took a lot of thinking.

Zhong Yin has a stubborn temper, as long as he wants to do something, he must do everything possible to do it.He asked around and heard that Guo Qianhui wanted to buy a house slave.He thought, this is a good opportunity, I might as well pretend to be a house slave.First, you can enter the Guo Mansion, and second, you can see Guo Qianhui painting.

So Zhong Yin dressed up as a servant and went to Guo's mansion to apply for a job.

Seeing that Zhong Yin was very clever, Guo Qianhui kept him.

In the Guo Mansion, Zhong Yin served tea and water every day, waited on him with a fan, and did all kinds of chores.After all, he is a son of a rich family, and his daily life has always been taken care of by others. Where did he do such rough work?At the end of the day, I was so tired that my back was sore and my legs ached.The only thing that comforted him was that he saw some paintings by Guo Qianhui, which were really excellent works worthy of the name.

Zhong Yin tried his best to stay close to Guo Qianhui, hoping to see him paint with his own eyes.And every time he paints, Guo Qianhui either asks him to do this or that, trying to get him away.In this way, although Zhong Yin sold himself as a slave, he still did not see Guo Qianhui's painting.

Two months passed, and Zhong Yin still got nothing.Several times he had the idea of ​​leaving, but there was always a glimmer of hope in his heart that made him stay.

Besides Zhong Yin's family, no one told about Zhong Yin selling himself as a slave to learn painting, even his wife only knew that he was traveling far away to meet friends.Zhong Yin is a celebrity after all, and the house is full of friends every day.But these days, when friends came to him, his family members said that he had gone out.When asked where he was going, he said he didn't know.Once or twice, prevarication, over time, people became suspicious.In the end, even the family members were suspicious, especially Mrs. Zhong, who insisted on getting him back.

One day, Guo Qianhui went out for a stroll and heard that the famous painter Zhong Yin had been missing for two months, and even his family didn't know where he had gone.Hearing people describe Zhong Yin's age and appearance, Guo Qianhui felt that he had seen this person somewhere.Thinking about it carefully, I remembered that he was very similar to the young man at home, and he happened to be at home for two months.

"No wonder he always wants to watch me paint," Guo Qianhui suddenly realized, "but he is really a good young man. It is the teacher's luck to lead such a student. I will have someone to succeed me."

Guo Qianhui hurried home, called Zhong Yin into his study, and said, "I know everything about you. You are willing to be a slave in order to learn painting, which really makes me ashamed. I have not taught students for many years. I have my own reasons, and I have to make an exception when I meet a young man like you who is open-minded and eager to learn, and you will have a bright future in the future."

Zhong Yin finally moved Guo Qianhui with his persistent learning spirit, and he became his student in a legitimate way. Guo Qianhui imparted his years of experience and skills to Zhong Yin without reservation.

Wisdom Interpretation:

Zhong Yin was obsessed with learning art, from stealing art to learning art in an open manner, his humility finally paid off handsomely.

For those who recognize their own shortcomings and improve themselves through "learning skills", skills are not easy to learn, so sometimes it is inevitable to do things that lower their value.

Our current learning environment is very rich. Although there is no need to work hard, the spirit of humility must not be given up. If you want to achieve success, you must maintain a mentality of returning to zero, because the lower the posture, the higher the skill.

(End of this chapter)