The stone man has one eye, and he's stirring up the Yellow River to turn the world against him. What does it mean?

The meaning of the saying "The stone man with one eye can lead the people of the world to revolt and overthrow the imperial court" is: Don't look at the stone man with only one eye, but it can lead the people of the world to revolt and overthrow the imperial court.

The saying comes from the story of the one-eyed stone man at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, a commoner, Han Shantong and Liu Futong buried the stone man in a river bank, but later the stone man was dug up and found the words "Don't look at the stone man with only one eye, and stir up the Yellow River and the whole world to rebel" engraved on the stone man. These words made people's hearts flutter, and Han Shantong and others were honored as leaders, thus opening the prelude to the peasant revolt at the end of the Yuan Dynasty.

Expanded Information

The end of the Yuan Dynasty, natural and man-made disasters, the people have no hope of survival, Luan Cheng Han Shantong because his grandfather burned incense to believe in Buddhism, spread the White Lotus Sect (intended to mobilize the peasants to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty rule) was banished to Yongnian.

Yuan Zhizheng one year in April (A.D. 1351), the court forced the people to repair the Yellow River break. When the civil workers dug the river, they found a one-eyed stone man (Han Shantong and Liu Futong buried in the river bank beforehand). At that time, the folk proverb: "Don't think that the stone man has one eye, and provoke the Yellow River to go against the world" was fulfilled.

May Han Shantong, Liu Futong in Yongnian Bailu (Road) Zhuang gathered 3,000 people, killed white horse, black cow alliance uprising, with the red scarf as the number, "called the Red Turbans", embracing Han Shantong as the King of Ming. Unfortunately, the matter leaked, Shantong was killed. Liu Futong broke through the siege, and his son, Han Lin'er, fled with his mother, Yang, to the mountains of Wuan.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia - One-Eyed Stone Man