During the Northern Song Dynasty, in the Su family of Meishan, Sichuan, a full-term baby boy entered the world with a loud cry—this was the great literary giant Su Dongpo.
Su Xun, the father, cared little for household affairs and spent years traveling to study. His wife, Lady Cheng, personally took charge of young Su Shi's education. Whenever she recounted tales of dynastic rise and fall, the boy could always summarize the key causes in just a few concise words.
Once, while reading the *Biography of Fan Pang* from the Eastern Han Dynasty, he saw how the loyal Fan Pang fought against the corrupt eunuchs who were harming the nation, only to die unjustly in prison, and he couldn't help but let out a long, heartfelt sigh. He then asked his mother, "If I were to become Fan Pang in the future, would you consent?" His mother gave a remarkable reply: "If you can be Fan Pang, how could I not be Fan Pang's mother?"
By the time Su Shi was nearly twenty, he had already mastered a wide range of classical texts and histories, writing thousands of words each day with effortless fluency.
He particularly admired the writings of Jia Yi and Lu Zhi, and later, upon reading *Zhuangzi*, sincerely exclaimed, "Before, I had a mouth but could not speak; now, seeing such excellent writing, inspiration comes to my heart."
In 1057, Su Shi took the Ministry of Rites exam, writing that the court's laws should not only punish evil but also reward loyalty. The chief examiner, Ouyang Xiu, was thrilled by the essay and wanted to rank it first, but suspected it was written by his own protégé, Zeng Gong. To avoid accusations of favoritism, Ouyang Xiu placed it second. When Su Shi later aced a follow-up exam on the *Spring and Autumn Annals*, he secured first place, leaving Ouyang Xiu to remark, "This young man's talent will surely surpass mine."
After being personally examined by the emperor in the golden hall and passing with honors, Su Shi visited Ouyang Xiu with his own essays. Ouyang Xiu smiled and said to Mei Shengyu, "We should make way for this man; he will one day rise above the crowd."
At first, the crowd murmured in disbelief, but as time passed, they gradually came to accept the truth.
Later, the idiom "standing out from the crowd" came to mean surpassing others and being above the ordinary.
Source: *History of Song*, "Biography of Su Shi"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "出人头地" came to describe how surpassing others and being above the ordinary.