一字之師 (Yī zì zhī shī)
(0) lit. one-character master
(1) one who can correct a misread or mis-spelt character and thus be your master
(2) a teacher of one word; one who can significantly improve the quality of another’s writing by changing one word and thus becomes his teacher
From link.
Source: Song – Tao Yue (陶嶽)’s Supplement to the History of the Five Dynasties (五代史補): Qi Yi (齊己) wrote the poem ‘Early Plum Blossoms (早梅)’, in which there was a line ‘In the deep snow in front of the village, several branches bloomed last night (前村深雪裏，昨夜數枝開)’. Zheng Gu (鄭谷) changed ‘several (數)’ to ‘one (一)’ and Qi Ji bowed to him for this [insightful edit]. Others then exclaimed Zheng Gu as the master of one word.
Later generations derived the idiom “Master of One Word” (or “One-character Master) from this story.
[Nguyen:] ‘One’ here can both be thought of as the insightful change from ‘several’ to ‘one‘, or it can also be thought of as the edit of a single word in the poem.
There was a monk named Qi Ji (齊己) from the Tang Dynasty who loved to write poems and was great at doing so, [in this way] he could be regarded as a poet-monk. He had a good friend called Zheng Gu (鄭谷) who was also a poet. Because both enjoyed the art of poetry, they naturally got a long well with one another.
One year, due to the early blossoming of plum flowers, Qi Ji wrote a poem titled “The Early Plum Blossoms” wherein were the following lines:
Ten thousands of trees are frozen and about to break, (萬木凍欲折)
Except in a solitary root where warmth has returned. (孤根暖獨迴)
In the deep snow in front of the village, (前村深雪裏)
Several branches bloomed last night. (昨夜一枝開)
The wind carries the fragrance by, (風遞幽香出)
The birds peeked at the unadorned beauty [of the scenery]. (禽窺素艷來)
Next year one should follow the law of nature, (明年如應律)
And bloom in front of the Longing For Spring tower. (先發望春臺)
A few days later, Zheng Gu stopped by for a visit. Monk Qi Ji said to him: “I just finished a poem, could you take a look and let me know how is it?” Zheng Gu pored over it for half a day then said: “It’s very well written, the artistic mood is beautifully constructed, the delicate emotion has reached a high mark. It’s just that as this title is Early Plum Blossoms, ‘several branches’ in the line ‘several branches bloomed last night’ is not appropriate for ‘early’. Would it be better to change this to ‘one branch’?” Qi Ji humbly accepted the constructive criticism and changed “Several branches bloomed last night” to “One branch bloomed last night”.
The poem spread far and wide, with Qi Ji and others praising Zheng Gu for the substitution of the word “one”, acclaiming him as the “Master Of One Word”. Later, the idiom “Master of One Word” was introduced to praise someone who changed one word (character) to add color and brilliancy to a poem, and in doing so, make it better than before.
—– VOCABULARY —–
嶽 yuè – high mountain; highest peak of a mountain ridge
獄 yù – prison [[ngục: nhà tù, nơi giam giữ; vụ án, án kiện; tố tụng, kiện cáo]]
昨 zuó – yesterday [[tạc: ngày hôm qua; ngày xưa, dĩ vãng, quá khứ; một ngày trước]]
算是 suàn shì – considered to be; at last
題寫 tí xiě – to create a work of calligraphy for display in a prominent place (typically, a sign)
凍 dòng – to freeze; to feel very cold; aspic or jelly [[đống: thức ăn đông đặc; đóng băng; lạnh cóng, rét cóng]]
暖 nuǎn – warm; to warm [[noãn: ấm, ấm áp; ấp cho nóng ấm, hơ nóng, hâm]]
遞 dì – to hand over; to pass on sth; to gradually increase or decrease; progressively [[đệ: đưa, chuyển; thay đổi, thay nhau; lần lượt, theo thứ tự; đái: xúm quanh, vây quanh]]
禽 qín – generic term for birds and animals; birds; to capture (old) [[cầm: loài chim; bắt giữ]]
窺 kuī – to peep; to pry into [[khuy: nhìn trộm, dòm lén; phiếm chỉ nhìn, xem; dòm ngó, nhắm]]
豔 yàn – [[diễm: tốt, đẹp; có quan hệ về tình yêu; nồng, đậm; ham chuộng, hâm mộ; chiếu sáng; huyễn hoặc, làm mê hoặc; con gái đẹp; chỉ hoa; vẻ sáng; khúc hát nước Sở]]
素筵 sù yán – vegetarian feast; food offerings to Buddha
素顏 sù yán – a face without makeup
映 yìng – to reflect (light); to shine; to project (an image onto a screen etc) [[ánh: chiếu sáng; phản chiếu; che, ẩn giấu; giao hòa, ứng đối; ánh sáng mặt trời; giờ Mùi]]
台 tái – desk; table; counter; platform; stage; terrace; stand; support; station; broadcasting station; classifier for vehicles or machines; typhoon [[thai: sao “Thai”, sao “Tam Thai” 三台. § Sách thiên văn nói sao ấy như ngôi Tam Công 三公, cho nên trong thư từ tôn ai cũng gọi là “thai”. ◎Như: gọi quan trên là “hiến thai” 憲台, gọi quan phủ huyện là “phụ thai” 父台, gọi các người trên là “thai tiền” 台前; đài: dùng như chữ “đài” 臺; di: ta, tôi (tiếng tự xưng ngày xưa; vui lòng; biểu thị nghi vấn – cái gì? thế nào?]]
串門 chuàn mén – to call on sb; to drop in; to visit sb’s home
串 chuàn – to string together; to skewer; to connect wrongly; to gang up; to rove; string; bunch; skewer; classifier for things that are strung together, or in a bunch, or in a row: string of, bunch of, series of; to make a swift or abrupt linear movement (like a bead on an abacus; to move across [[xuyến: xâu, làm thành chuỗi; cấu kết, thông đồng, móc nối; diễn xuất, đóng vai; đi chơi, đi thăm; xông vào, tùy tiện ra vào; lẫn lộn; lượng từ – xâu, chuỗi, chùm; quán: quen nhờn; thói quen, tập quán]]
虛心 xū xīn – open-minded; humble
嚴冬 yán dōng – severe winter
凋零 diāo líng – withered; wilted; to wither; to fade; to decay
凋 diāo – withered [[điêu: tàn, rạc, như “điêu linh” 凋零 rơi rụng tan tác]]
感到 gǎn dào – to feel; to sense; to have the feeling that; to think that; to move; to affect [[cảm thấy, cảm nhận]]
壓 yā – to press; to push down; to keep under (control); pressure [[áp: đè, ép; đè nén, bức bách (bằng sức mạnh hay uy thế); đến sát, kề lại gần; chận lại, đọng lại, ngâm giữ; vượt hơn, thắng hơn; nén, làm cho yên, làm cho nhẹ bớt; áp suất, sức ép]]
積雪 jī xuě – snow; snow cover; snow mantle
株 zhū – tree trunk; stump (tree root); a plant; classifier for trees or plants; to involve others (in shady business) [[chu: gốc cây (phần ở trên mặt đất); phần dưới đất gọi là “căn” 根; lượng từ – đơn vị số cây, cỏ, hoa]]
芳香 fāng xiāng – balmy; fragrant; aromatic (chemistry)
芳 fāng – fragrant [[phương: mùi thơm của cỏ hoa; cỏ thơm, cỏ hoa; tỉ dụ đức hạnh, danh dự, tiếng tốt; tiếng kính xưng người khác; tốt, đẹp]]
妍麗 yán lì – beautiful
妍 yán – beautiful [[nghiên: xinh đẹp, diễm lệ]]
添 tiān – to add; to increase; to replenish [[thiêm: thêm, tăng gia]]