During the Southern Liang Dynasty, a boy named Fu Ting was so brilliant that by age seven he had mastered the *Analects*. His poetry, imitating the landscape style of Song poet Xie Lingyun, was so convincing that people often mistook it for Xie's own work. The essayist Ren Fang, a close friend of Fu Ting's father, frequently praised him, saying, "This child is unmatched in the capital—there is no one like him under the sun." Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, was equally impressed and compared Fu Ting to Confucius's disciple Yan Hui, appointing him as a military advisor. Fu Ting took up this important post in the prince's mansion at just eighteen years old.
Fu Ting was a gentle soul who avoided conflict, getting along with everyone at court. He hosted lectures on the *Analects* at home, drawing the entire court as his audience. But when he accepted bribes and feared exposure, he fled to become a Taoist hermit, only reappearing after an imperial pardon. Prince Shao Ling, Xiao Lun—Emperor Wu of Liang's sixth son and a gifted poet—saw Fu Ting's talent and befriended him. Xiao Lun persuaded him, "Return to worldly life and serve again." Fu Ting heeded his advice, shed his robes, and resumed his official career.
After Fu Ting’s death, he left behind ten volumes of *Er Shuo* and twenty volumes of collected writings.
Later, the idiom "Unrivaled Under the Sun" came to refer to exceptional talent.
Source: *Book of Liang*, "Biography of Fu Ting"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "日下无双" came to describe exceptional talent.