The couplet of Yuelu Academy's "only Chu is talented, and Yu Si is prosperous" originated from a major overhaul of Yuelu Academy during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty. After the overhaul was completed, Yuan Mingyao, the head (dean) of the college, was asked to write a couplet. Yuan Mingyao used "only Chu has talent" as the upper link, and instructed the students to make the lower link. However, the students did not come up with satisfactory results after much deliberation. It wasn't until Gongsheng Zhang Zhongjie arrived that he blurted out "Yu Si is sheng", and the next link was completed.
The upper couplet of this couplet, "Only Chu has material" comes from "Although Chu has material, Jin is practical" in "Zuo Chuan: Xianggong Twenty-six Years", which was originally an allusion to Chu Cai's Jin use. The following couplet "Yu Si is prosperous" comes from the "Analects of Taibo" "On the occasion of Tang Yu, Yu Si is prosperous", the original sentence is Confucius praised the situation of the prosperity of talents during the period of King Wu of Zhou.
The meaning of this couplet is that the state of Chu (here specifically referring to Hunan) has many talents, and Yuelu Academy is the best among these talents, especially prosperous. It is a true portrayal of Yuelu Academy's talents over the past thousand years, and it also shows the profound historical and cultural heritage of Hunan. This couplet not only reflects the historical status of Yuelu Academy, but also reflects the importance that the people of Hunan attach to education and talents.