Last summer, I read a strange book. The sentence written in the book, “Life is self-made, and blessings are sought by oneself” touched my heart. This book is “The Four Lessons of Fan”, which mentions at the beginning:

“If you have the power to hang the pen, it will pour out, and it will be refined and wonderful. Han Wengong’s “Sacrifice Twelve Langs” is also; the article has also been out of the manuscript for a long time, changing day by day and month, and it has been refined for decades to be the final one, and Ouyang Wen Zhonggong’s “Longgang Qian Table” is also.”

– Xiu Ouyang《The Gravestone of Longgang》

I remember that I learned Han Yu’s “Sacrifice to Twelve Langs” in my second year of high school, and the scene of Mr. Liu reading the text with deep affection came to my mind. Thinking of Ouyang Xiu’s “Zui Weng Pavilion” and “Preface to the Five Dynasties of Shi Lingguan”, who had learned in the first year of high school, Mr. Feng’s resonant and powerful voice seemed to ring in my ears again. Perhaps Ouyang Xiu’s “Drunken Man’s Intention is Not Wine” is liked by more people, but I prefer to read his “Preface to the Biography of the Five Dynasties of Shiling Officials”. In it, “the husband’s disaster often accumulates in the slight, while wisdom and courage is trapped in drowning” has become my philosophy of life.

I read in another book that Ouyang Xiu’s best article is The Theory of Friends, and I think his best article is Longgang Qian Table. Since I read “Longgang Qian Table” this year, every time I read this article, I often cry like rain.

“The Preface to the Four Precepts” sincerely don’t bully me!

More precisely, the second paragraph of “Longgang Qian Table” infected me, and it will definitely infect more parents, so as to benefit more children and contribute more value to society in the future. This is the motivation for me to write Father’s Power.

Why was Ouyang Xiu able to become a high official, one of the eight masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties, and Su Shi’s Bo Le? You can find the answer from Longgang Qian Table. Ouyang Xiu lost his father at the age of four. It can be said that there is almost no father in Ouyang Xiu’s memory, but it can have an impact on Ouyang Xiu for a lifetime. What kind of person is his father? In the article, his mother’s wife said:

Your father is an official, honest and easy to give, and welcome guests. Although his salary is small, he often doesn’t have any excess, saying, ‘Don’t think it’s because I’m tired.’

– Xiu Ouyang《The Gravestone of Longgang》

I thought that when Ouyang Xiu wrote “The Theory of Friends”, he must have imagined his father in his mind. He called people like his father the party of gentlemen, and when he was an official, he was also a gentleman no matter how big his official position was.

Mrs. Tai then told Ouyang Xiu two stories about his father:

（1）

When you are old, you must cry and say, ‘It is better to sacrifice abundantly than to raise thinly.’ Between the royal wine and food, he cried again and said, “In the past, it was often insufficient, but now there is more than enough, how can it be!”

– Xiu Ouyang《The Gravestone of Longgang》

The ancients said: “The tree wants to be quiet, but the wind does not stop, and the son wants to be raised, but the relatives do not wait.” Ouyang Xiu’s father has a deep understanding, and his filial piety must have infected Ouyang Xiu, so that he has a supporting power on the road of life.

His father’s words also changed my behavior. When I go to my parents’ place later, I always want to bring something to them. No matter whether the things I bring are expensive or cheap, as long as they like it, I will feel a little relieved. I also told my wife what Ouyang Xiu’s father said, and I also supported her to show filial piety.

（2）

Your father is an official, and he has tasted the official letter at night, and repeatedly abolished and sighed. When I asked him, he said, ‘I don’t want to survive in this prison!’ I said, ‘Can I ask for life?’ He said: ‘If you ask him to be born but you can’t get it, then the dead and I have no hatred; if you ask for it, you will get it! If you have something, you know that you don’t ask for it, but the dead have hatred! The husband often asks for his life, but still loses his death; and the world often asks for his death.’ Looking back on the breast, he hugged you and stood beside you. He sighed and said, ‘The magician said that I was going to die in Xu. To make it clear, I can’t see the son’s standing, and I should tell it in my own words.’

– Xiu Ouyang《The Gravestone of Longgang》

After talking about these two things about her father, Mrs. Tai said something wise:

You encourage it! The husband does not have to be rich, but filial piety; although profit is not rich in things, his heart should be more generous than benevolence. I can’t teach you, this is your father’s ambition.

– Xiu Ouyang《The Gravestone of Longgang》

How did the young Ouyang Xiu react when he heard Mrs. Tai’s words?

Xiu cried and aspired to it, and dare not forget it.

– Xiu Ouyang《The Gravestone of Longgang》

Later, Ouyang Xiu read Su Shi’s words and once said, “I should withdraw this person and make him ahead.” On the one hand, Ouyang cultivates talents, and on the other hand, isn’t it for him and Su Shi to “not hate”? He must have imagined his father in his mind and realized his father’s ambition with practical actions.

This is the power of the father.

I also remembered that my favorite Ouyang Xiu in high school was also mentioned in the “Preface of the Five Dynasties of Shiling Officials”:

“Liang, my enemy is also; King of Yan, I set up, Khitan, and I are brothers, and they all turn against Jin to return to Liang. I hate these three. With you three arrows, you don’t forget your father’s ambition!”

– Xiu Ouyang《Biography of the Five Dynasties of Shiling Officials》

This also expresses Ouyang Xiu’s recognition of this kind of power. They are the same father’s aspirations, but the content is different, and the influence on children is huge and far-reaching.

When I was a child, I often thought, “I have grandma, grandpa and grandma, why don’t I have grandpa?” Later, when I was in college, by chance, my uncle and uncle came to Wujia Mountain. When they were walking on the Fifth Ring Road (now next to Hema Fresh), they somehow talked about my grandfather. I asked my uncle a question: “What kind of person is he (my grandfather)?” I remember that my uncle said to me with a smile after hearing it, “He is a person who can make people laugh.”

The ancients said, “If you have a father, you will have a son.”

The ancients did not deceive me! As a father of two children, I think of the power of this father.