During the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Shan was the king of Shu. However, he knew nothing about ruling a state (诸侯国). 【小题1】 One day, the army of Wei attacked Shu. Liu and some of his soldiers were captured and brought to Wei.

Sima Zhao was a very powerful leader in Wei. 【小题2】 So, he invited Liu and his officials to a dinner. He prepared delicious food and drink to treat them. 【小题3】 He wanted to make fun of Liu and his men.

When Liu’s officials heard the music and saw the dances, they felt very sad. Only Liu enjoyed the show and laughed happily.

【小题4】 “I am having a good time here,” Liu said, “I don’t miss it at all!” Sima thought, “Liu doesn’t care about his state at all.” 【小题5】

Who is the greatest teacher in Chinese history? Many people would think of Confucius, whose birthday was September 28th. Although he lived over 2,500 years ago, people still remember and respect him for his contribution to the education today. Chinese look upon Confucius as the greatest thinker and also the greatest teacher.

Confucius lived in the Kingdom of Lu, which lies in Shandong. He lived during the Spring and Autumn Period. He had a hard childhood. His father died when he was only 3. His mother brought him up. As he was a child, he had to work to help his mother, but young Confucius never gave up studying. He visited many famous teachers and learned music, history, poetry and sports.

Later, he became a teacher and started the first public school in Chinese history. At that time only children from noble families could go to school, but Confucius believed everyone should go to school if they wanted to learn. He had about 3,000 students in his lifetime.

Today, people still follow Confucius’ lessons. He told us that we all have something worthy to be learned. “When I am with three people, one of them must be better than me in some areas. I choose their good qualities and follow them.”

He also taught us that thinking is very important in study. “All study but no thinking makes people puzzled (困惑的). All thinking but no study makes people lazy.”

Confucius’ ideas have been around in people’s everyday lives. Now they have gone far into Western countries and South Asia. His most important teachings are about kindness and good manners. “A person should be strict with himself, but be kind to others.” he said.

Zhao Gu was a poet in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). He was very gifted in writing poems and was spoken highly of by the famous poet Du Mu.

At that time, there was another poet called Chang Jian. Though he could also write good poems, he admired the works of Zhao Gu very much. One day, Zhao Gu traveled to Suzhou, and Chang Jian happened to be in Suzhou as well. Hearing the news of Zhao Gu’s arrival, Chang Jian was very excited. “I should not miss this good opportunity,” he told himself. “I must have Zhao Gu leave behind some good poem.”

However, he didn’t know how he could ask Zhao Gu to write poems for him. He thought for a while, and an idea came to him. He thought of Lingyan Temple, a place of wonder in Suzhou. “Now that Zhao Gu is in Suzhou, he will certainly visit Lingyan Temple. If I write half a poem in the temple it may arouse the interest of Zhao Gu in finishing the poem,” he thought to himself. Then, Chang Jian secretly wrote two lines on a wall in the temple.

Sure enough(果然), Zhao Gu paid a visit to the famous temple the following day. Seeing those two lines on the wall, he thought it was very unnatural. He then added another two lines to form a complete poem. Chang Jian used his two not-very-good lines to invite a wonderful poem completed by Zhao Gu. What Chang Jian had done, someone said, was just like casting a brick to invite a jade.

Later, people often use this idiom to describe the act of using their own writing to invite the perfect articles of others. This idiom is usually used to express modesty.