The Eight Immortals generally refer to Han Zhongli, Lan Caihe, Zhang, He Xiangu, Han Xiangzi and Cao Guojiu. According to legend, there are different musical instruments, such as iron bars, drums of Han Zhong, paper donkeys of Zhang, long swords and flutes of Zhang, bamboo covers of He Xiangu, flower baskets of Han Xiangzi, jade plates of Cao Guojiu and slabs of blue-colored cranes. The instruments they carry with them have their own wonderful uses.
When the pestle is ground into a needle, the work comes naturally;
Li Bai, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, didn't like reading when he was a child. One day, while the teacher was not at home, he sneaked out to play. He came to the river at the foot of the mountain and saw an old woman grinding an iron pestle on a stone. Li Bai was puzzled and asked, "Old woman, what are you doing grinding the iron pestle?"
The old woman said, "I am grinding the needle." Li Bai was surprised and asked, "Oh dear! As thick as a pestle, how can it be ground into a needle? " The old woman walked over and said, "As long as the pestle is always ground more and more finely every day, are you still afraid that it is not a needle?"
Li Bai, a clever man, was ashamed of himself after hearing this. He turned and ran back to the bookstore. From then on, he kept in mind the truth that "as long as kung fu is deep, the iron pestle is ground into a needle" and studied hard.
Zhou Yu was bent on playing Huang Gai, thinking:
During the Three Kingdoms period, the Dongwu general Huang Gai was ordered to surrender to Cao Cao's barracks. In order to gain Cao Cao's trust, Zhou Yu deliberately found an excuse to beat Huang Gai up and let Huang Gai pretend to be angry and defect to the enemy. Pang Tong persuaded Cao Cao to connect the warships together, which created conditions for Zhou Yu to attack with fire. In the end, the Sun-Liu Alliance won the victory in Battle of Red Cliffs.