The Biography of Ma Shuo and Ma Shuo is an essay by Han Yu, a writer in the Tang Dynasty, which is of metonymic significance. It was originally the fourth article written by Han Yu, and the title of Ma Shuo was added by later generations. This article was written in the 11th year of Zhenyuan (795) to the 16th year (800). "Shuo" means "talking" and is an ancient argumentative genre. This article takes the horse as a metaphor, talking about the talent problem, revealing the author's cynicism and his feelings and resentment. It expresses the author's strong indignation at the feudal rulers' failure to identify, reuse and bury talents.
Ma Shuo's vernacular translation: Only when there is Bole in the world can there be a swift horse. There are often swift horses, but Bole is not often. Therefore, even if there is a swift horse, it can only be humiliated in the hands of servants and die side by side with ordinary horses in the stable. It cannot be called a swift horse.
A horse that travels thousands of miles a day can sometimes eat a stone at a meal. People who feed horses don't know how to feed them according to their appetite. Even if such a horse has the ability to travel thousands of miles a day, its food intake and physical strength are insufficient, and its talent and good quality cannot be shown. If you want to be like an ordinary horse, how can you ask it to walk thousands of miles a day?
Pushing it, but not feeding it in the right way, is not enough for it to exert its talents, but listening to its cry, it is impossible to understand its meaning. Instead, he walked up to it with a whip and said, "There is no swift horse in the world!" Alas! Is there really no maxima? I'm afraid they really don't know maxima!