When we encourage (鼓励) someone, we usually say ‘jiayou' in Chinese, which means 'add oil'. do we say so? There is an interesting story behind 'add oil'.
It (start) with an official (官员) called ZhangYing. He lived during the Qing Dynasty. He was the Zhifu (知府) of Xingyi, Guizhou. He'd like to encourage people to study (hard). So he asked some officials (walk) around the city at night with buckets of oil.
At the time, people used oil lamps at night. When these officials saw students (read) books at night in their home, they would knock at the door and said, 'The Zhifu adds oil for your lamp!' Zhang did this thirteen years. This warmed many (student) heart. It was not (surprise) that many of his city's young people became scholars (学者).
(he) son also became one of the famous officials of the late Qing Dynasty. 'Add oil' became everyday phrase (词组).
