Shi Feng The people who can be called saints in history are all awesome. So who is filial?

We all know that in history, those who can be called saints are great men, like the soldier Sun Wu. A book called "Sun Tzu's Art of War" was reprinted in billions of copies and has influenced China for thousands of years. Almost every famous general in Chinese history has a copy, and it is now also a must-have textbook for military academies. Wu Yu, with his loyalty to Liu Bei and Cao Cao, was recommended by emperors of all dynasties. Later, he was directly deified and was named Emperor Guan Sheng along the way. The historical sage Sima Qian used his disability and personal perseverance to write a book, "Historical Records", which is unprecedented and is called the swan song of historians. It remains the best of all historical works, ranking first among the twenty-four official histories.

So who is Xiaoxing and what are his characteristics? Time will move to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In Langye, Shandong, there is a Wang Xing family. His parents are Wang Rong and his son is Wang Xiang. Wang Xiang's biological mother died young and occupied the second room, Zhu. Zhu was not a kind person, so he did not treat his stepson Wang Xiang well. He usually scolded him easily, but also said all kinds of bad things about Wang Xiang in Wang Rong's ears. However, Wang Xiang is very grateful to his parents. He knew his mother died young. If the stepmother does not take care of him, he will only follow his father, and his usual etiquette, food and accommodation will be very unsatisfactory. So he is very filial to his parents.

According to historical records, one winter, the weather was very cold, and the lake outside was covered with thick ice. People in the village stayed at home and didn't want to go out. Zhu suddenly wanted to eat fish, so he asked Wang Xiang to catch some carp for her. When Wang Xiang heard that his mother wanted to eat fish, he didn't even think about it. She came to the river with her fishing rod.

When Wang Xiang came to the river, he found that there was a thick layer of ice on the river, several inches thick. Wang originally wanted to come back here, but when he thought of his mother, he finally decided to find a way on his own. First, he found a big stone by the river and tried to use it to break the ice. After smashing it down several times, he found that the ice in the river was too thick, and except for a few small cracks, there was no sign of breaking.

Later, he tried several methods, but failed to break the deadlock. He really couldn't think of a way, so he took off his clothes and lay on the ice, trying to melt the ice with his own body temperature. It’s hard for us to imagine the process, but he still melted the ice. When the ice melted and opened a small hole, he couldn't stand the cold. In order to prevent the ice cave from closing, he quickly made the ice cave large enough with stones. After exercising for a while, he started fishing. It took him about half a day to finally catch two carp.

Wang Xiang took the fish he finally caught home, and Zhu scolded him for a long time, but Wang Xiang did not complain, nor did he tell Zhu that the ice in the river was very thick. He just quietly prepared the fish and served it to his mother.

According to historical records, there was a fruit tree on their land that bore many fruits. Zhu was afraid that others would steal it, so he ordered him to watch it every day. Wang Xiang obeyed his mother's orders. Because the fruit trees are a bit far away from the village, there is no place to take shelter from the rain. Once it rains, Wang Xiang has nowhere to hide. Sometimes I couldn't bear it anymore, so I would hug the fruit tree and cry, unwilling to disobey my mother's orders.

Wang Xiang was known for his filial piety. The Western Han Dynasty wanted to make him an official, but he refused. Wang Xiang told the court officials that there is an old mother at home. As the eldest son, I have to shoulder the responsibility of taking care of her and cannot travel far away to serve as an official. In this way, Wang Xiang lived in seclusion for thirty years. When Zhu died, he stayed in mourning for three years and was summoned by the Xuzhou governor to make a farewell speech.

Wang Xiang is not only filial, but also very capable and honest. When Sima Zhao was the king of Jin, his power spread all over the world. Other officials would bow to him, but he just lowered his head. He believed that they were officials and colleagues, not ministers, and should not kneel. Later, Emperor Wei Cao Taizu became a student and asked him how to be a monarch.

After Sima Yan usurped the Wei Dynasty, Wang Xiang was also very important in the Western Jin Dynasty. He was always the Taibao and Juesui Gongling. Later, because Wang Xiang was old and homesick, he asked Emperor Jin to go home and take care of his old age. But the Emperor of Jin disagreed and was very merciful and allowed him not to go to court. He also gave him a lot of property and ordered him to stay in the capital to deal with some state affairs. Emperor Jin also came to ask for advice in person. In 268 AD, Wang Xiang died at the age of eighty-five. Wang Xiang was filial to his parents and was listed as one of the twenty-four filial piety, and was named the Saint of Filial Piety by later generations. He ranks alongside Guan Gong, Sun Wu, and Sima Qian in history. He is admired by future generations and worthy of learning from us modern people.