There are hundreds of large and small gates in the Summer Palace, among which the Ruyi Gate in the northwest corner has the best name. There is a story about the origin of this name.
According to legend, when the Summer Palace was being built, Empress Dowager Cixi often went to the garden to inspect and personally determined the name of each door, each hall, and each pavilion. There were many details in it, either from some allusion or from Based on happiness, wealth, longevity and joy.
On this day, Cixi, accompanied by the minister of garden construction, came to the northwest corner of the Summer Palace. At this time, a garden gate here had just been built. She looked at it and asked the Minister of Garden Construction: "Has this gate been named yet?" The Minister of Garden Construction thought to himself, does Lafayette want to name this gate? ? Then he said: "Go back to Lafayette, I'll leave the name of this sect for you to come up with!" Unexpectedly, Cixi stared at this and said angrily: "Such an inconspicuous person!" Do you want me to open your son's little door myself?"
When the Minister of Gardening heard this, he knew that he had failed to flatter him and was so frightened that he remained silent.
"Pass on my message, call all the people who are working here, and give each person a name. If you give it well, I will give you a big reward. If you do not do it well, I will give you thirty big rewards." Jian The minister of the garden quickly called together the more than twenty people working on the side.
Cixi was in a good mood, and she deliberately wanted to make fun of these craftsmen. She pointed to a tall man in the crowd and said, "How about you give me a name first and let me hear it?" The man walked forward and knelt down and said, "Lord Buddha, the name I want to name is 'Long Live Gate'." '."
Cixi was furious when he heard this: "You slave, do you have a long-lived emperor in your heart? Come on, give him a big blow first!" I was beaten thirty times for no reason, and I still don’t know where I went wrong. He didn't know that Cixi never took the emperor seriously, and hated people who flattered the emperor the most.
Cixi glanced at the crowd, pointed at an old man and said, "Can you give me a name?" When the man saw the Queen Mother nodding at herself, his heart trembled. He had long heard that Lafayette was moody, and he must be in trouble today. He thought for a moment and said, "I think the name of this gate will be 'The Empress Dowager's Gate'. Whenever I call this name from now on, I will think of you, Lafayette."
He wanted to flatter Cixi. However, when Cixi heard this, she became furious again: "What's the 'Housew Gate' or 'Tai Qian Gate' thing? You're flattering me and you don't even look at the place, and you give me thirty thumbs up!"
Everyone was shocked when they saw it. Even the "Long Live Gate" and "The Queen Mother's Gate" couldn't be named. Cixi was secretly happy when she saw that everyone was frightened and panicking. Then he asked an eunuch next to him: "These people have no knowledge. In your opinion, what should be the name of this sect?"
"I..." The eunuch was violently raped by Cixi When Di asked, he was a little flustered and said, "I, I" for a long time before he even came up with a name. When Cixi saw this, she became furious and said, "You useless thing, you are working as an errand in the palace and you can't even come up with a nice name. Give me a beating!"
Three times in a row! If one person gets a bad rap, everyone else thinks that today's fate is sealed. The Queen Mother of the West is too cruel. She lets the coolies choose names. Isn't this deliberately making things difficult for others?
While everyone was frightened, a young man in his twenties stood out from the crowd and said, "My dear, I have been studying for two years, and I want to give this school a name." Ci Xi took a look and saw that the speaker was a young man, and she wanted to see what name you, a young boy like you, could give you!
The young man who came forward was called Zhao Yushui. He was honest and loved to help others. In order to save the remaining workers from the physical pain, he first thought of a name, hoping that Cixi would be satisfied with it. Yes, spare others the torture.
Cixi glanced at Zhao Yushui, snorted and said, "Okay, then you can tell me, but if you don't get up well, you will have to suffer ninety boards." When everyone heard this, they were frightened. The hair stood on end.
Zhao Yushui said calmly: "If you are satisfied with the name Lafayette the slave gave you, it will be considered as a sign of filial piety to Lafayette. If it is not what you want, I will not complain even if I kill the slave."
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"Stop talking nonsense, tell me, what is it called? "Cixi wants to see what this young man is capable of.
"Although this corner gate is remote, it is the Qian position according to the Bagua map. The Qian position represents heaven. Heaven was originally ruled by the Jade Emperor, but he also had to listen to the Queen Mother's will. The Queen Mother was so kind and virtuous that she made everything go well for all people. In my humble opinion, this gate should be named 'Ruyi Gate'."
Cixi was very surprised when she heard this, because the word "Ru" on the left side symbolizes herself, and the word "口" on the right side means speaking. The word "meaning" hides the word "日", which symbolizes the word "huang" for the emperor. On the surface, this name means auspiciousness, but it also implies that Cixi is aloof and monopolizing power, so this name is exactly what Cixi wants.
Cixi looked at this young man carefully. He was not amazing in appearance, but he was quick-witted and said, "Okay, this is a good name. 'Ruyimen' brings good luck and everything goes well, just what I want!" Reward one hundred taels of silver! "Cixi was all smiles. When everyone saw that the name had been chosen, a stone fell from their hearts.
After the Queen Mother returned to Leshou Hall, she was still thinking about the three words "Ruyimen" , the more she thought about it, the more she felt that this name was a good choice. But she was suspicious and vicious by nature, and she was afraid that her plans would be revealed in the future, so she found a confidant and asked him to try to kill Zhao Yushui to avoid future troubles. p>
A few days later, Zhao Yushui died of an "accidental" work-related injury, but the "Ruyimen" he created is still in use today.