High Mountains and Flowing Water
In the Spring and Autumn period (时期), there was a man called Yu Boya. He was good at playing Guqin.
One day, his teacher brought him to Penglai Island to enjoy the nature. Boya played music on the boat in such beautiful sight. Suddenly, a man on the bank shouted, "Bravo!" Boya came out of the boat and saw a woodcutter on the bank. Boya invited the woodcutter, Zhong Ziqi, to his boat. He played music to praise (赞美) the high mountains, the woodcutter said, "Wonderful, the melody is great! It sounds like Mount Tai, which reaches to the sky."And Boya played another piece of music to praise the flowing water. The woodcutter said, "Amazing! It just sounds like the running water in front." Boya was excited and said, "Bosom friend, you are truly my bosom friend."
Since then, they have been friends. Years later, when Ziqi died of illness, Boya broke his Guqin into pieces and never played for anyone. The Chinese idiom (成语) "High Mountains and Flowing Water" was used to describe the ideal of close friendship.
