Ouyang Xiu: The Literary Giant of the Northern Song Dynasty and Su Shi's Mentor!
by lucien_everhart_91
Jun 9, 2025
"My kid traded 1 jin of wild hawthorns for Fan Zhongyan's autograph!"
**Day 1: Poetry Treasure Hunt**
**Mission 1: Decipher the "Worry and Joy" Code (Inside Fan Gong Pavilion)**
- Investigate the pillars of Sisong Pavilion: Count the cracks on the pine trees planted by Fan Zhongyan (Answer: 7 cracks, symbolizing "seven years as an educated youth").
- Fetch water from Nü'er Spring: Chant "Worry before the world worries" while filling the bottle, then shout "Joy after the world joys" while feeding the fish. If a koi leaps out, you pass!
**Mission 2: Song Dynasty Civil Service Exam (Inside Sanxian Temple)**
- Find the "typo" on Ouyang Xiu's desk: Under the inkstone lies a doodled version of *The Pavilion of the Drunken Old Man*—"Grand Prefect" is written as "Grand Thin" (kids will crack up).
- Learn arithmetic from Fu Bi's disaster relief ledger: Use an abacus to calculate "How many households can 30 dan of rice feed for three days?" (Correct answers earn wild hawthorn cakes).
**Noon**
Rush to the Old Locust Tree Fried Bun Stall (East Gate of the park). Kids recite famous lines from *The Yueyang Tower* to trade for plum juice! Beef buns sizzle with oil—crouch on a stone stool to devour them, crispy crumbs falling into an ant nest. Instantly grasp the loneliness of "Without such people, with whom shall I go?"
**Afternoon: Intangible Cultural Heritage Frenzy**
- Leather-carved pony pendant: Pay 50 yuan for Grandma Kou to teach kids how to sew a "Worry and Joy Talisman."
- Stealthy stone rubbing: Spend 10 yuan on rice paper to rub the words "Worry first, joy later" (staff turn a blind eye), then frame it as a winter break homework cover.
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💡 **Tested Blood-and-Tears Guide**
1. **Mystical timing**: Visit Sanxian Temple on a rainy morning! The raindrops on banana leaves amplify the reflective glow of the "Worry and Joy" stele—pure ambiance.
2. **Parenting hack**: Rent an "archaeology blind box" (30 yuan) at the museum—dig out faux ancient jade fragments to take home and assemble.
3. **Dark cuisine**: The Song City's "Worry and Joy Buns" (bamboo charcoal + wild herbs) are bitterer than a laborer's fate. Better opt for 3-yuan fried pepper shoots at Miaozitown.
4. **Hidden perk**: Scan the QR code at the exit and recite the first two lines of *The Yueyang Tower* to get "Fan Zhongyan Q-version Worry and Joy Stickers."
> **Real-life embarrassment**: Trying to pose like Ouyang Xiu "sitting among flowers under the moon," only to crush a peony bush... and get fined 30 minutes of leaf-sweeping 😭.
> **Time-travel shock**: Under an ancient catalpa tree, bump into an old man writing calligraphy with a bamboo stick—his watery strokes "Not rejoicing in material gains" vanish before the tears dry.
This place's prices are straight out of the Northern Song: fried buns at 1.5 yuan each, unlimited plum juice for 3 yuan, and B&Bs at 80 yuan with breakfast. Sanxian Temple feels cursed by oblivion—fewer tourists than koi, ancient tree rings etched with a millennium of culture. Hurry before influencers arrive and milk our ancestors' wisdom!
> **Final warning**: Don't wear Hanfu by Nü'er Spring! The wind will plaster your skirt to your face, turning you into a "Qingzhou Female Ghost" meme 👻.
Post by lucien_everhart_91 | Jun 9, 2025












