There is such a riddle circulating in southwestern Shandong: "Ti Liu Ti leaves a hairy tail (yi), ask how old he is - hit an object (the answer is 'wei')". The name is commonly known as "Hookzhi", sixteen liang. Regarding the origin of the name, we need to start with Fan Li, the "Shang Sage" during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
As we all know, Fan Li, also known as Shaobo, was a politician, military strategist, economist and Taoist scholar at the time. He accompanied King Gou Jian of Yue to suffer hardships in the Kingdom of Wu for three years. He used a beauty trick to give Xi Shi to King Wu Fu Cha, and finally allowed King Gou Jian of Yue to return to the country smoothly to develop production. In the end, "where there is a will, things come true. Even if everything is broken, the Qin Pass will eventually belong to Chu." If you work hard, God will not let you down, and you will suffer hardships. Three thousand Yue Jia can swallow Wu. "Winning a great victory, King Wu's country was destroyed, his family was destroyed, and his body and clan were destroyed.
In this humiliating victory, Fan Li made outstanding achievements. However, he saw through the officialdom and still left Yue with his sweetheart Xi Shi. He came to Yue incognito as Yi Zipi. Taoqiu in the Song Dynasty (now south of Dingtao District, Heze City, Shandong Province), named himself "Tao Zhugong". From then on, he and the Xishi couple became concubines and started a business, and their wealth accumulated more and more. When they reached a certain level, they distributed all their wealth to the poor. In this way, he "gathered the rich three times and dispersed the family wealth three times." universal respect from the world. People around the world praised him as: "Loyalty to the country; wisdom to protect one's life; business to get rich and become famous all over the world." Many businessmen in later generations built temples for him, built golden statues, and worshiped him as the "God of Wealth." Burn incense and make wishes, praying to him to bless businessmen with prosperity and wealth.
Legend has it that one day, Fan Li was on his way home from business when he happened to see a farmer drawing water from a well. He saw a tall wooden stake standing beside the well. There is a long crossbar across the top. A big stone is tied to the proportionally long end of the crossbar. A long rope is tied to the short end to tie the barrel. The barrels just go into the well to draw water. They go up and down. Very labor-saving.
Fan Li realized deeply as he looked at it. Wouldn't it be much more convenient if he could make a scale to weigh things like this? Along the way, he recalled the role of the lever for drawing water, and he was suddenly inspired. When he returned home, he quickly took a three-foot-long huanghuali stick, drilled a small hole in one end, and then threaded it with a hemp rope. On the top, a tray or hook tied with a rope is set at the near end to place or hook up items. At the other long end, a cylindrical iron block is used as a weight and is moved back and forth to adjust the weight according to the specific gravity. Assessing the weight of items, however, he had difficulty marking the crossbar. That night, he and Xi Shi were sitting in the yard watching the stars in the sky while drinking tea and enjoying the coolness. A comet pierced the night sky, dazzling and dazzling. Xi Shi said: "Sir, look at that star crossing the Big Dipper, how beautiful it is. "
Fan Li echoed: "Yes, it's so beautiful, so beautiful."
He saw the sky shining brightly. The stars covered the curtain like crystal clear pearls. Suddenly, he was inspired. If he moved these stars to the scale beam, wouldn't the sign of weighing appear? He was overjoyed at his sudden discovery. He immediately took out the scale beam and arranged the South and Big Dipper stars on the scale beam. He designed each star to represent one or two weights, and exactly thirteen stars represented thirteen or two weights.
Tao Zhugong looked at the scale beam and seemed to realize that the purpose of weighing items with a scale is to be honest and trustworthy, fair and just, and not to deceive customers. How can everyone achieve the goal? Can we consciously abide by the moral principle of "not bullying each other"? After thinking hard, he established three stars of fortune, wealth and longevity to warn people to exercise self-restraint and be honest and trustworthy when using scales. In this way, the sixteen stars on this pole scale represent sixteen taels (one catty). This is the origin of the "sixteen taels".
In order to further clarify the purpose and meaning of the scale, Tao Zhugong specially gave each part of the scale a nice name, which has profound meaning and far-reaching educational significance. When you lift the scale, you can feel the heavy weight. What is being weighed is not only the items, but more importantly the character and morality. The scale rod is called "heng", and the weight hanging below the scale rod is called "quan".
This is where the term "tradeoff" we usually call comes from.
Tao Zhugong set the weight according to the Xuanyuan constellation. "Quan" belongs to the constellation, so the weight is called "Quan". It is the god of thunder and rain. The Chinese nation is a large agricultural country. What people pursue is good weather and the health of the people. This is why The implication is that "Quan" belongs to the stars as the weight, and its importance is self-evident. The scale beam is made according to Ziwei Yuan and is located at the north end of the Big Dipper Dipper. It is arranged in two columns. This sorting needs to be fair and balanced. If Ziwei fights, it will tilt and lose its balance. Then the world will not be peaceful and something big will happen, and the country will be in turmoil. Therefore, using "heng" as the scale is even more important.
The little stars on the scale represent the scale, and they are also the representation of the constellations in the sky. The little silver star represents "two", which symbolizes the moon in the sky; the little golden star represents "jin", which symbolizes the sun in the sky. If you want to give people a lack of money, it means losing the sun. Without the moon, it means the world is dark, and the earth has lost the brilliance of the sun. How can all things grow? How do humans survive?
Tao Zhugong was particularly interested in the first three stars and named them the Lucky Star, Lucky Star and Longevity Star, which represent people's happiness, wealth and longevity. People are warned and reminded that people who do business must be honest and do not deceive or hide. Otherwise, they will lose one tael and lose their fortune, lose two taels and lose their salary, and lose three taels and lose their life span.
The rope button used to carry is called "weighing the hair", which means that you must be aware of the details when weighing and never be careless. The plate connected by three chains or ropes at one end of the scale beam is called the "scale pan" and is used to hold goods.
Isn’t there a fixing star on the scale? Before weighing, you must first lay down a fixed star, which requires you to deal fairly. If you want to weigh things, you must first weigh your own conscience and set your heart right.
The ancients have long warned us businessmen: "If you want to bully others and hide your true intentions, the gods will not protect you." If even the gods do not protect people, , what is the meaning of this person living in the world? So don’t think that Quejinshaoliang is taking advantage. In fact, you are suffering a big loss, because your life is not blessed by the gods, so what is the use of having so much money? Does everyone have to weigh it carefully?
During the Qin Empire, in order to carry forward Tao Zhugong's admonitions, Qin Shihuang asked the scale maker to inscribe the four characters "The world is peaceful" on the scale beam to remind people to use it at all times. That steelyard in your good hand. It has been passed down to this day and is still a necessity in people's lives.
Even the long-running TV series "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" begins with a popular and well-known theme song "There is a Steel Scale Between Heaven and Earth" Chapter, the lyrics say: