‘In the morning I was an humble cottager,
In the evening I entered the court of the Son of Heaven:
Civil and military offices are not hereditary,
Men must, therefore, rely on their own efforts.
‘A passage for the sea has been cut through mountains,
And stones have been melted to repair the heavens;
In all the world there is nothing that is impossible;
It is the heart of man alone that is wanting resolution.
‘Once I myself was a poor indigent scholar,
Now I ride mounted in my four-horse chariot,