In chapter 5 of Dream of the Red Chamber, Baoyu is taken to rest in a fine room. On the wall hangs a couplet: 世事洞明皆学问，人情练达即文章. “To see clearly into the affairs of the world is true learning. To be skilled in human feelings is true writing.”
Baoyu reads the two lines and refuses to stay, however fine the room. “Out! Out!”