A.D. 1025 (the third year of the Northern Song Dynasty), Fang Zhongyong began to write poems, which shocked the whole village. Famous, its specialty is "referring to things like poetry." In order to catch a glimpse of this "child prodigy writer", city dwellers have invited Fang Zhongyong's father to visit the city, and some people are even willing to pay a few coppers for it.

A.D. 1033 (the second year of Ming Dow in the Northern Song Dynasty), Wang Anshi, the same age as Fang Zhongyong, followed his father back to Shanxi to visit relatives and met Fang Zhongyong at his uncle's house. Wang Anshi is also a "child prodigy", and the book says that he "reads little and never forgets" (History of Song Dynasty, volume 327). Fang Zhongyong's name has long been known to him. He asked Fang Zhongyong to write some poems, but he was a little disappointed, because this "prodigy writer" was not as powerful as the legend.

1040 (the first year of Kangding in Northern Song Dynasty), Wang Anshi visited relatives in Jinxi again. At this time, Fang Zhongyong became a farmer again.

In A.D. 1043 (the third year of the Northern Song Dynasty), Wang Anshi returned to Linchuan from Yangzhou, and thought of what had happened, he wrote the article "On".