Zu Ti was a native of Fanyang County (present-day Laishui, Hebei) in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and his ancestors were the great surnames of Beizhou and produced many high-ranking officials who ate 2,000 stones.
When Zu Ti was a child, he was open-minded and ambitious, but he was a little naughty and did not particularly like to read.
Growing up, he realized his own inadequacies and felt
Without reading books, he could not serve the country well, so he rose up, read all kinds of books extensively, greatly increased his knowledge, and gradually became a talent who could assist the emperor in governing the country.
At the age of twenty-three or four, Zu Ti became the chief bookkeeper of Sizhou.
Also doing the main bookkeeper of Sizhou is his childhood friend Liu Kun.
Zu Ti and Liu Kun had a particularly good relationship, often sleeping in the same bed and sleeping with the same quilt; the two also shared a lofty ideal: to make meritorious achievements, revive the Jin Dynasty, and become the pillars of the country.
One day, Zu Ti heard the rooster chirping in his sleep, and he kicked Liu Kun awake and said, "Did you hear the chicken crow?" Liu Kun said: "It is unlucky to hear chickens crying in the middle of the night." Zu Di said, "I don't think so, how about we just get up and practice our swords when we hear the chickens crying?" Liu Kun readily agreed.
Therefore, every day, as soon as they heard the chickens crowing, they got up to practice their swords, and the swords in the courtyard flew and the sound of swords was sonorous.
This is the origin of "smelling chicken dancing".
"Smell the chicken dancing", which means getting up to practice the sword as soon as you hear the chicken crowing, describing a person who has the ambition to repay the country.
For this matter, the Book of Jin. Volume 62. It is recorded in the Biography of Zu Ti: "Zu Ti ... With Xi Kong Liu Kunju as the master of Sizhou, good love silk, slept together, heard the sound of wild chickens in the middle of the night, and Ke Kun realized: "This is not an evil sound." 'Dance (sword)'. ”
Day after day, rain or shine.
Kung Fu pays off. Zu Ti later became the general of Zhenxi, and Liu Kun became the general of Zhengbei Zhonglang, and concurrently managed the military of the three prefectures of He, Ji, and You, and both became all-rounders who could write and fight.
Zu Liu and Liu also have a common wish, that is
Committed to the Northern Expedition and the restoration of the Central Plains.
As early as the Western Jin Dynasty, due to civil strife in the imperial court, the barbarian rong di, who lived outside the northwest border, seized the opportunity to send troops to seize power. Many remnants of the Jin Dynasty had to flee the Central Plains in the north and take refuge in the south.
In this regard, Zu Di, who was full of patriotism, was very sad and often thought of restoring the motherland.
Zu Di once volunteered himself, asking the monarch of the Eastern Jin Dynasty to send an army to the Northern Expedition to restore his homeland and free the people from the oppression of the Rong Di people.
This Time in the Northern Expedition, when crossing the Yangtze River to the north, the boat traveled to the middle stream, and Zu Di looked at the river rolling east in front of him and sighed with emotion.
Thinking of the shattering of mountains and rivers, the thought of the destruction of life, and the thought of the predicament in front of him, he couldn't help but feel very emotional, knocking on the boat and swearing loudly: "Zu Ti can't clear the Central Plains and restore the people, like a big river"!
This means that if you can't pacify the Central Plains and recover the lost land, you will never return to Jiangdong!
After that, people used the metaphor of "middle stream strike" to strive to be strong.
In the "Song of Righteousness" in the Southern Song Dynasty's "Song of Righteousness" by Wen Tianxiang, the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty and the great anti-Mongolian national hero, "Or to cross the river and generously swallow Hu Qi", it is exactly what Zu Tizhong hit.
Zu Ti's troops were strictly disciplined, and they received the response of people everywhere, and within a few years, they recovered a large area of land south of the Yellow River, so that Shi Le did not dare to invade the south, and Zu Ti was also enfeoffed as a general of Zhenxi.
At the same time as the Northern Expedition, Zu Ti also vigorously developed the economy and actively promoted agricultural production.
Later, in the internal strife of the Eastern Jin Dynasty court, Zu Di was suspicious of Emperor Sima Rui and died of grief.
After Zu Di's death, the recovered areas were lost one after another.
Although Zu Ti's Northern Expedition was premature, he himself was still a good general in the minds of the common people.
The story of the dancing of the chicken is recorded in the Book of Jin, one of the Twenty-Four Histories.
The Book of Jin was compiled by Fang Xuanling and others in the Tang Dynasty, and records the events from the early years of Sima Yi in the Three Kingdoms period to the second year of Emperor Gong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (420) when Liu Yu deposed the Jin Emperor and established himself, in the Song Dynasty.
In this book, it is also recorded in the form of a "record"
The regime established by the xiongnu, Xianbei, Xianbei, Qiang, Qiang, and other ethnic minority rulers, that is, the form of the "Sixteen Kingdoms" historical events, is an innovation in the style of the Book of Jin in the style of the chronicle of history.
The Jin Dynasty's account of "smelling the chicken dancing":
original:
Fan Yang Zudi, who rarely had great ambitions, and Liu Kunju was the master of Sizhou, sleeping together, smelling the chicken chirping in the middle of the night, and Ke Kun jue said: "This is not a bad sound!" "Because of the dance. and crossing the river, Zuo Cheng Xiangrui thought that the military consulted the wine. Living in Jingkou, he entangled Xiao Jian and said to Rui Yue: "The rebellion of the Jin Dynasty, not only the rebellion of the upper and lower levels, the clan chambers are fighting for power, and they are fishing and flesh, so that Rong Di takes advantage of the gap and poisons Middle-earth." Now that the remnants of the people have been crippled and thieves, and the people are thinking of themselves, the great king cheng can order the master to be sent, so that the people who are like the people will be unified to restore the Central Plains, and the county and the country will be great, and it will be expected that the wind will respond! "Rui Su did not have the ambition of the Northern Expedition, and took Ti as the general of Fenwei and the assassin of Yuzhou, gave a thousand people a cloth, clothed three thousand horses, did not give armor, and made himself recruited." Ti crossed the river with more than a hundred families, in the middle stream, and swore: "Zu Di cannot clear the Central Plains and restore the people, just like the great river!" "Sui Tun Huaiyin, smelting and casting troops, recruiting more than 2,000 people and then advancing."
Translation:
At the beginning, Fanyang's zu di, who had great ambitions when he was young, once served as the chief bookkeeper of Sizhou with Liu Kun, slept with Liu Kun, and heard the chicken chirping in the middle of the night, he kicked Liu Kun awake and said, "This is not a disgusting sound." "Just get up and dance the sword." After crossing the river, Sima Rui, the left chancellor, made him a military advisor. Zu Di lived in Jingkou, gathered together brave and strong warriors, and said to Sima Rui: "The turmoil in the Jin Dynasty was not because the monarch was unreasonable and caused his subordinates to resent and rebel, but because the imperial family competed for power and killed each other, so that the people of Rong Di took advantage of the loophole and the scourge spread throughout the Central Plains. Now after the remnants of the Jin Dynasty were destroyed and injured, everyone wanted to strengthen themselves, and the Great King, you can indeed send generals to lead the troops out of the division, so that people like me can lead the army to restore the Central Plains, and the heroes of all places, Haojie, will definitely have people who have heard the wind and responded! Sima Rui never had the ambition of the Northern Expedition, and after listening to Zu Ti's words, he appointed Zu Ti as the general of Fenwei and the Assassin of Yuzhou, and only allocated him rations for a thousand people, three thousand pieces of cloth, and did not supply weapons, so that Zu Ti could find a way to raise them. Zu Ti led his private army of more than a hundred families across the Yangtze River, tapping the oars in the river and saying: "If Zu Ti can't make the Central Plains clear and successful, just like the great river, there will be no return!" So he went to Huaiyin to camp, built a furnace to smelt and cast weapons, recruited more than 2,000 people, and then continued to advance.