Four Hoary Venerable Short Story

The Story of the Four Hoary Venerable

Dear friends, today our online Chinese teacher will share a Chinese history story with you. It is “商山四皓(Shang1shan1 si4hao4) Four Hoary Venerable.”

The story of Shangshan Sihao took place in the early Western Han Dynasty B. C. -24A. D.). Before launching armed struggles, Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, had got married with Lu Zhi, who later became the queen. With Lu Zhi, Liu Bang got his first son named Liu Ying. During his subsequent battles, Liu Bang once was defeated and had to flee for his life. In a household, where he took refuge, he met a girl and found her shapely and attractive. Enamored, he married the girl, who was later known as Lady Qi. With Lady Qi, Liu Bang

Later on, Liu Bang was increasingly fond of his second son Ruyi and had the idea of making him the crown prince to inherit the throne. When the queen became aware of the intention, she was on tenterhooks. She took counsel with Zhang Liang, one of the founding ministers of the Han Dynasty.

Zhang knew clearly that changes in the lineage of succession would bring about chaos in the country and unrest among the princes and the lords. He gave the queen his advice, asking her to invite the four accomplished scholars, Dongyuangong, Luli, Qiliji and Xiahuangong, to assist the crown prince. T

In our Mandarin class online you can also know that they were all distinguished scholar-statesmen in the late Qin Dynasty and the early Han Dynasty, and were known for their outstanding achievements and rich knowledgeable in both history and current affairs, as well as for their wisdom to work out strategies. It was only because of the turmoil of the times that they became disillusioned with their official careers and escaped the world into delusion in