Anecdote of couplets (622) Zhang Jian writes couplets wisely

1882, a mutiny occurred in Renwu, North Korea. At the age of 29, Zhang Jian, the top scholar, went to Korea with Wu Changqing, the general of Huai Army, and later took charge of Xuanqing College in Ganyu, Jiangsu Province and Yingzhou College in Chongming. Since then, he began to engage in industrial activities in 1895, and founded Sheng Da cotton mill in 1899. Later, more than a dozen large enterprises such as Tonghai Agricultural Reclamation Animal Husbandry Company, Guangsheng Oil Plant, Zizhu Iron Metallurgical Plant and Huaihai Industrial Bank were established one after another. Since 1902, the first normal school in China-Tongzhou Normal School, vocational school, library, museum, theater, etc. Has been established one after another, dedicated to the cause of culture and education. These large enterprises gradually developed into Sheng Da Capital Group, making Nantong an important national industrial base in modern China. Tongzhou Normal School and other cultural and educational institutions have also trained a large number of early talents for China. When Tongzhou Normal School was opened, Zhang Jian personally wrote a couplet for the school gate:

Set it as a school for teaching; Know the names of birds, animals and plants.

This couplet is a collection of sentences from four books.

The first part of the book Mencius Teng Wengong: "Set it as a school in an emergency to teach it". Yao is the name of the school in Zhou Dynasty, Xu is the name of the school in Shang Dynasty, School is the name of the school in Xia Dynasty, and Xue is the name of the university in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. It means "running various schools to educate people".

Yang Huo's The Analects of Confucius: "Know the names of birds, animals and plants". This means that students should learn more natural science knowledge and master the skills of transforming nature and benefiting society. Borrowing the words of Confucius and Mencius, this paper expounds his own educational thought and school-running purpose, which can be seen from his good intentions.