Yue Fei's Mother Tattooed² Characters on the Skin of Yue Fei

岳母刺字

Yue Fei was a patriotic³ military commander of the Southern Song Dynasty and a national hero in resisting the invading Jin people.As a young man，he was diligent⁴ and adept⁵ in wushu. The story of character-tattooing of his mother is popular among the people. It is said that. Wang Zuo，with the alias⁶ of Yu Gong，persuaded Yue Fei to surrender and pledge his allegiance to Yang Yao.Yue Fei rejected him in stern terms. Yue Fei's mother was afraid that after her death some unworthy men would still come to tempt⁷ her son. If he was lured⁸ due to mo-mentary negligence⁹ and committed treason，his illustrious name would be de-stroyed overnight. Therefore，she lighted joss sticks and candles in front of the sa-cred ancestral temple，wishing to tattoo¹ the characters“serving the motherland with selfless loyalty¹⁰" on the back of his son. After Yue Fei had worshiped the heav-en and earth and his ancestors，his mother wrote the characters with a brush on his back. Then she used an embroidery¹¹ needle to stab in conformity¹² to the strokes and smeared¹³ it with vinegar ink to avoid color fading. This story has become a classic piece of teaching material for the later generations to eulogize patriotism¹⁴.

岳飞是南宋时期著名军事家，也是一位杭金英雄。他年轻的时候勤奋好学，练就一身好武艺、《岳母刺字》的故事在民间广为流传。据清代中叶钱彩、金丰所编的《说岳全传》第二十二回记载:王佐化名于工，劝岳飞投顺杨么，被岳飞严词拒绝。岳母怕自己死后再有不肖之徒前来勾引岳飞，倘若岳飞一时失察被惑，做出不忠之事，英名就会毁于一旦。于是，岳母在家庙前焚香点烛，要在岳飞背上刺下“精忠报国”四个字。岳飞拜过天地祖宗后，岳母先用毛笔在岳飞背上写下“精忠报国”4个字，然后用绣花针-依笔画刺完，又用醋墨涂了一遍，以使字迹永不褪色。岳母刺字的故事成为后世爱国主义的经典教材。