During the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589), there lived a man of letters named Jiang Yan, who lost his father at a young age. The young Jiang Yan was strenuous and diligent, capable of composing beautiful poems and essays from an early age. Highly regarded by the literati of his time, he was respectfully called "Mr. Jiang."
However, his great fame and high position eventually prevented him from making further progress. The articles and poems he wrote later could not match the quality of his earlier works. People said that he had exhausted his talent and was at his wit's end.