Page "Yang Xiu (Han Dynasty)" Paragraph 7

Another time, Cao Cao and Yang Xiu were riding on their horses and passed by the grave of Cáo É ( unrelated to Cao Cao ).

On the gravestone were four sets of words, " huang juan ( yellow silk fabric ), you fu ( young woman ), wai sun ( grandson ), and ji jiu ( powdering mortar )" ( 黄绢 、 幼妇 、 外孙 、 齑臼 ).

Cao then asked Yang if he knew what those four sets of words meant, and Yang immediately began to answer.

However Cao interrupted him and told him to wait until he has obtained the answer and then they can compare.

After riding for another 30 li ( approximately 15km ), Cao finally understood the hidden meaning behind those words and asked Yang to share his insights and see if he got it correct.

Yang then explained that "' huang juan ( 黄绢 )' is a synonym for ' se si ( 色丝 )' ( which meant " coloured silk ").

If you combine the character ' si 丝 ( silk )' with ' se 色 ( colour )', you get ' jue 绝 ( absolute )'.

' You fu ( 幼妇 )' is a synonym for ' shao nü 少女 ( young woman )'.

If you combine the character ' nü 女 ( woman )' with ' shao 少 ( young )', you get ' miao 妙 ( wonderful )'.

' Wai sun ( 外孙 )' is equivalent to ' nü er de er zi ( 女儿的儿子 ) ( the son of the daughter )', if you combine take the two major characters out and combine ' nü 女 ( woman, in this case means daughter )' with ' zi 子 ( son )', you get ' hao 好 ( good )'.

' Ji jiu ( 齑臼 )' is basically ' shou wu xin zhi qi ( 受五辛之器 ) ( a device which receives and grinds the five Chinese spices )'.

If you take the two major characters out and combine ' shou 受 ( takes, receives )' with ' xin 辛 ( spice )', you get ' ci 辤 ( refined ), or in simplified Chinese the character 辞 '.

Combine the four characters and you get ' jue miao hao ci ( 绝妙好辞 ) ( absolute, wonderful, good, refined )', which were used to praise Cáo É.

" This greatly impressed Cao Cao and he exclaimed that Yang was " 30 li smarter than him ".