River Snow by Liu Zongyuan is one of China’s most famous winter poems. Written while the author was politically exiled, it paints a silent snow world empty of birds and people. The lone angler on the cold river symbolizes the poet himself, preserving his moral integrity against hardship.
Duke Jing of Qi owned four thousand horses (in ancient China, a team of four horses was called a “si”; thus, one thousand si equals four thousand horses), enjoying immense wealth and luxury. Yet on the day he died, the people could find no virtue in him to praise. Bo Yi and Shu Qi…
Mencius said: “Bo Yi would not serve a ruler he did not approve of, nor befriend anyone he deemed unworthy.”