Chinese Æsop:

A Sword Hidden in the Fish's Belly

2023-11-23T06:15:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, in the ancient state of Wu during the Spring and Autumn period of China, a tale of courage and conspiracy unfolded that would be remembered through the ages. This is the story of the Banquet of the Brave.

In the heart of Wu, a usurper king named Liao sat on the throne, having deceitfully taken it from his nephew, Prince Guang. Resolute in reclaiming his rightful place, Prince Guang plotted to overturn this injustice. Advised by the wise Wu Zixu, Prince Guang took under his wing a warrior of unmatched bravery and skill, named Zhuan Zhu.

Zhuan Zhu, a man of Yue who had seen his share of struggles, was entrusted with a mission of grave importance. He was to master the art of cooking a great carp, King Liao's favorite dish. The prince intended to use this culinary allure as a means to draw the usurper into a trap.

The fateful day arrived when King Liao was invited to a grand banquet at Prince Guang's residence. Despite his suspicions, the allure of the famed carp dish was too tempting for King Liao to resist. He accepted the invitation, though not without taking extensive security measures. The path from the palace to the prince's residence was heavily guarded, and every attendee, including the servers and chefs, underwent stringent checks.

As the banquet commenced in a hall filled with wary guards, the atmosphere was tense. Prince Guang, under the guise of needing to use the restroom, excused himself, setting the stage for Zhuan Zhu's daring act. Disguised as a chef, Zhuan Zhu approached, carrying the magnificent carp.

At the doorstep, the guards conducted their routine checks and allowed him in, unaware of the deadly secret hidden within the fish. As Zhuan Zhu knelt before King Liao to present the dish, the king, captivated by the sight of his favorite meal, let his guard down. It was then that Zhuan Zhu made his move. In a swift, unexpected motion, he pulled a sharp short sword from the belly of the carp and struck King Liao, piercing through his armor and into his heart.

The guards, stunned by this sudden turn of events, took a moment to react before they descended upon Zhuan Zhu, ending his life in a flurry of blades. But it was too late for King Liao; his reign had come to an abrupt end. Prince Guang emerged with his men, seizing control of the situation. He soon ascended to the throne, known to history as King Helü of Wu.

The Banquet of the Brave became a legend, not just for its dramatic assassination, but as a symbol of cunning strategy and the lengths to which one might go for justice and rightful rule. The story of Zhuan Zhu's bravery and sacrifice lived on, echoed through the annals of history as a testament to loyalty and valor in the face of tyranny.

The Son of Severed-Feet and The Wife-Stealer's Lackey

2023-10-28T21:35:00.001-07:00

Before ascending to the throne, Duke Yi of Qi had a bitter rivalry with Bing Yuan, the father of Bing Ru, over a piece of land. Duke Yi lost and harbored a grudge. After becoming the ruler and long after Bing Yuan had passed away, Duke Yi desecrated his grave by severing the corpse's feet. Yet, he employed Bing Ru as his charioteer. Meanwhile, Yan Zhi had a beautiful wife whom Duke Yi took for his own pleasure, assigning Yan Zhi to oversee his carriage trains during royal outings.

In the spring of 609 BCE, Duke Yi visited Shen Pond. While soaking in the hot springs, his two charioteers, Bing Ru and Yan Zhi, taunted each other. Yan Zhi sneered, "Son of a Disgrace!" Bing Ru retorted, "Wife-Stealer's Lackey!" Both men were consumed by shame and resentment, fostering an urge to kill Duke Yi. On the way back, they seized the opportunity to assassinate him, leaving his body in a bamboo forest before fleeing, their fates unknown.

Explanation:

"Son of a Disgrace": This term stands in for "断足子" and refers to Bing Ru's shame that his father's corpse was mutilated by Duke Yi.

"Wife-Stealer's Lackey": This replaces "夺妻者" and is directed at Yan Zhi, underlining the humiliation he felt for serving the man who took his wife.

These slang terms aim to convey the complex feelings of shame, resentment, and animosity both Bing Ru and Yan Zhi felt towards Duke Yi, which eventually led to his assassination.

Cart Driver

2023-05-29T02:39:00.007-07:00

A cart driver was struggling to haul a heavy load up a hill when a wolf bit his buttocks. He wanted to let go, but if he did, the cargo and the cart would crush him. So, he endured the pain and kept pushing. By the time he made it to the top, the wolf had bitten off a piece of his flesh and left. The wolf, seizing the opportunity when the man was unable to fight back, secretly tasted a piece of him. It was cunning, yet somewhat amusing.

車夫

有車夫載重登坡，方極力時，一狼來嚙其臀。欲釋手，則貨敝身壓，忍痛推之。既上，則狼已齕片肉而去。乘其不能為力之際，竊嘗一臠，亦黠而可笑也。

One who is a jack-of-all-trades but master of none will not be successful

2023-05-28T01:52:00.002-07:00

Once upon a time, in the land of ancient China, there lived a creature known as the Wu Weasel. The Wu Weasel was a peculiar creature, known for its vast array of skills. The renowned philosopher Xunzi often spoke of this creature, remarking: "The Wu Weasel is skilled in five ways, yet it always ends up impoverished."

The Wu Weasel was not an ordinary weasel; it held a certain uniqueness that differentiated it from its kin. According to the "Er Ya," an ancient Chinese dictionary, the Wu Weasel was a special kind of weasel, almost mythical in its reputation.

An old scholar named Guo Pu provided a vivid description of this creature. "The Wu Weasel," he said, "resembles a small fox, yet its bearing is much like a bat. It has fleshy wings, a winged tail, and flanks. Its fur is a purplish red, like the hue of the setting sun, its back is colored like the green mugwort and ai grass, and its belly gleams with a yellowish tint. Its beak and chin are sprinkled with white, providing a striking contrast. Its feet, though short, possess long claws, and its tail spans about three feet in length. It can fly and lactate, much like a flying mammal."

Despite its remarkable traits, the Wu Weasel was most known for its skills. The "Shuowen Jiezi," an ancient dictionary of Chinese characters, mentioned that the Wu Weasel was a weasel with five unique abilities. It could fly, yet it couldn't soar over a house. It could cling onto trees, yet it couldn't exhaust a tree. It could swim, but valleys were too vast for it to cross. It could burrow into the earth, but it couldn't conceal its body entirely. And it could run, yet it could never outrun a human.

This led to the metaphorical understanding of the Wu Weasel's plight, serving as a cautionary tale that resonated across generations. The five skills of the Wu Weasel mirrored the struggles of those who spread themselves too thin. The story of the Wu Weasel served as a reminder that being a jack-of-all-trades without mastery in a particular area could lead to failure or poverty. Despite possessing multiple skills, the Wu Weasel always ended up impoverished, a metaphor for those who failed to specialize and focus in life. Thus, the tale of the Wu Weasel became a symbol of the need for focus and specialization.

The phrase "梧鼠五技而窮" (wúshǔ wǔ jì ér qióng) is from the Chinese philosopher Xunzi. The term "梧鼠" (wúshǔ) is commonly interpreted as a kind of weasel or flying squirrel, "五技" (wǔ jì) translates to "five skills", and "而窮" (ér qióng) means "but poor" or "end up impoverished".

Qilin

2023-05-20T14:44:00.006-07:00

Once upon a time, in the ancient lands of China, there was a charioteer named Zi Chushang from the esteemed Shusun family. One day, while gathering firewood in the immense wilderness, he chanced upon a creature of exceptional beauty and grace - a Qilin.

The Qilin, a revered mythical creature in Chinese lore, was considered akin to the Western Unicorn. Its awe-inspiring features, as described by scholar Lu Ji, included the body of a deer, the tail of an ox, the hooves of a horse, and a captivating yellow hide. It bore a single horn with flesh at the end. Its voice was as harmonious as bells and musical stones, reverberating in the tranquil wilderness. The Qilin moved with an air of disciplined orderliness. It selected its dwelling place with meticulous care, ensuring to avoid stepping on living insects or damaging thriving grass. This solitary creature did not herd with other animals nor travel with them. It was adept at evading traps and could not be ensnared by nets. The Qilin's appearance was said to signify the rule of a supremely benevolent king.

Zi Chushang, flabbergasted by the sight of the Qilin, inadvertently harmed its front left foot during his attempt to capture it. He carefully transported the injured Qilin back to the city, burdened with a sense of unease. On arrival, Shusun, overwhelmed with fear and viewing the incident as an ominous sign, chose to abandon the Qilin outside the city walls.

Desperate for understanding, Shusun dispatched a messenger to seek the wisdom of the esteemed philosopher Confucius, detailing the strange encounter. Intrigued, Confucius rushed to witness the majestic creature. Upon laying eyes on the Qilin, he exclaimed in dismay, "It's a Qilin! But why has it come? Why now?"

Unable to contain his emotions, Confucius turned away, wiping his face. Tears streamed down his cheeks, soaking his collar. Hearing Confucius' reaction, Shusun was filled with regret and promptly ordered his men to retrieve the Qilin.

Zigong, a disciple of Confucius, puzzled, asked, "Master, why do you weep?" Confucius, voice laden with sorrow, responded, "The Qilin, an embodiment of peace and benevolence, has arrived at an untimely moment and met harm. That's why my heart grieves." Thus, the tale of the Qilin unraveled, becoming a profound testament to the respect and care for all living beings.

Jun's mother was kind, and good at teaching

2023-04-15T13:48:00.002-07:00

In the bustling capital city, Buyi Jun worked tirelessly as the prefect. His days were filled with the endless tasks of governing, always busy in visiting to the county prison, recording the stories of the prisoners, listening intently to their tales of woe, retrial the cases, and made proper judgements.

When he returned home, his mother would always be waiting for him. She was a kind woman, wise and good at teaching. She would ask him about the cases he had overturned and smile happily at his successes. Her joy was infectious and Jun couldn’t help but feel lighter in her presence.

But there were times when he had nothing to report. On those days, his mother’s demeanour would change. Her eating and speaking habits would become different and if he had nothing to say, she would become angry and refuse to eat. It was a stark reminder of the weight of his responsibilities.

Jun took his mother’s lessons to heart. He was strict but not cruel as an official. He remembered her words and the teachings of The Book of Songs: ‘The great heaven is swift in its might and spreads over the lower earth.’ It meant that the way of heaven was to love life and to hate cruelty in its actions on earth.

And so Jun continued on, guided by his mother’s wisdom and kindness. He worked tirelessly for the people of the capital city, always striving to do what was right.

漢京兆尹雋不疑之母也。仁而善教。不疑為京兆尹，行縣錄囚徒；還，其母輒問所平反，母喜笑。飲食言語異於他時；或無所出，母怒，為之不食。由是故不疑為吏，嚴不殘。君子謂：「不疑母能以仁教。」《詩》云：「昊天疾威，敷于下土。」言天道好生，疾威虐之行於下土也。

The roadside spectators killed your horse

2022-04-23T21:01:00.003-07:00

A man rides a horse on the road. Because the horse ran so fast, passers-by kept applauding and applauding. Horses are proud, and so are the riders. So he hurried on and continued to run wildly on the post road. The faster he ran, the more people applauded. After running for hundreds of miles, the horse suddenly fell over and died after gasping for a while. The man on the horse fell down and was so distressed that he wanted to cry. How can a good horse die? At this time, an old man came over and said, "The one who kills the your horse is standing on the road side."(杀君马者道旁儿) It means that the person who kills your horse is the one who applauds and applauds you on the side of the road.

This story comes from Ying Shao's "Fengsu Tongyi"( Comprehensive Meaning of Customs and Mores) in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and was later included in the Song Dynasty book "Taiping Yulan". Mr. Cai Yuanpei has quoted this allusion twice: once after the May 4th Movement in 1919, on May 9, Cai Yuanpei wrote a letter of resignation. The other time was in 1926, when Cai Yuanpei wrote a poem to Hu Shi, one of which was: "A man on the road can kill your horse, but when the river dries up, the people may blame the River God."

Everyone knows that this is called "Flattering kills", and Lu Xun reminded everyone long ago. But know that it is easy to kill by flattering, but find that it is difficult to kill by club. A lot of people fall into the trap without knowing it.

Yu Yue, a great scholar in the Qing Dynasty, told a story about a Beijing official who was about to go to another place and said goodbye to his teacher before leaving. The teacher said, "It's not easy to be an official in another province, so you should do it with caution." The man said, "I have prepared 100 high hats(meaningflattery), and I will give one when I meet someone, so there shouldn't be any disagreements." The teacher was very angry, He said, "We should treat others with honesty and integrity. Why do we need to do this?" The man said, "How many people in the world don't like wearing high hats like my teacher?" The teacher nodded: "Your words are not without reason. ." After the man came out, he quietly said to others: "I prepared 100 top hats, and now there are only 99 left."

Tickets

2020-05-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

I was afraid of Mother's Day since I was a child,

Because soon after I was born, I was abandoned by my mother.

Every Mother's Day, I feel uneasy,

Because around Mother's Day,

On TV shows are all songs that sing maternal love,

This is especially true on the radio,

Even a cookie advertisement also has a Mother ’s Day song.

For me, I can't stand every such song.

I was abandoned when I was more than a month old,

I was found at Hsinchu Railway Station,

👮‍♀The policemen near the station panicked by my loud crying and tried to feed me,

These big boys find a woman who can breastfeed,

If it weren’t for her, I’m afraid that I would have been starved to death.

When I am full of milk and sleep peacefully,

These police officers took me to the Delan Center in Baoshan Township, Hsinchu County,

💒Those Catholic nuns who are smiling all day long are scratching their heads.

I have never seen my mother,

When I was young, I only knew nuns brought me up.

Other big brothers and big sisters have to study during the night,

I have nothing to do, so I have to pester nuns,

They went to the church for evening prayers, and I followed them in,

Sometimes I got under the altar to play,

Sometimes grimacing at nuns who are praying,

More often fell asleep by a nun,

The kind nuns will not wait for the evening prayer to finish,

Just carry me upstairs and go to bed,

I always suspect that they like me,

It's because I gave them a great excuse to slip out of the church.

Although we are all children whose family has been changed, most still have a family,

Uncle and aunties and even the elder brother will come to pick up during the Chinese New Year

Only me, even if there are family members somewhere, do not know.

Because of this, the nuns are particularly good to us, the truly homeless children and others are not allowed to bully us.

I’ve been studying in the orphanage since childhood,

The nuns even found a large number of volunteers to be my tutors.

There are a handful of people who have been my tutors. They are graduate students and professors of Jiaotong University and Qinghua University, engineers and Researchers from the Industrial and Manufacturing Park.

The teacher who taught me physics and chemistry was a doctoral student, and now he is an associate professor.

The one who taught me English is simply Professor Zheng. No wonder I have been good at English since I was a kid.

The nuns also oppressed me to study the piano. In the fourth grade of elementary school, I was already an organist in the church. During the mass, I was responsible for playing the piano.

Due to my influence in the church,

So, my tongue is clearer,

In school, I often participate in speech contests,

On one occasion, he also served as the representative of the graduates' reply.

But I have never played an important role in a program celebrating Mother's Day.

Although I like to play piano,

But there is always a taboo,

I can't play the song on Mother's Day.

I think unless someone forces me to play,

💔 Otherwise, I would never play it myself.

I sometimes think about who my mother is,

After reading the novel, I guess I am an illegitimate child.

The father had illicit intercourse at the beginning and deserted her at the end, the young mother had to abandon me.

Probably because of my good talents, plus the enthusiasm of the tutor,

I successfully graduated from the Hsinchu Provincial Middle School,

By the university joint admissions, I was also admitted to the Department of Civil Engineering of Chenggong University.

When I was in college,

I finished my studies by working part-time,

Sister Sun who raised me up sometimes came to see me,

My big and rough male students,

As soon as they saw her, they became very in good manner and elegant.

Many classmates will comfort me after learning the story of my life,

saying that I was brought up by nuns, No wonder my temperament is good.

On the day of graduation, everyone has parents coming,

My only relative is Sister Sun, and our head of department also took pictures with her.

During my military service, I went back to visit the Deland Center,

Sister Sun suddenly wanted to talk to me about a serious matter,

She took an envelope out of a drawer,

Aksed me to look at the contents of the envelope.

💓 There are two tickets in the envelope,

Sister Sun told me,

When the police sent me,

These two tickets were in my pockets,

Obviously my mother used these tickets to travel from her place to Hsinchu Station

One bus ticket goes from a place in the south to Pingtung City.

Another train ticket is from Pingtung to Hsinchu,

This is a cheap slow train ticket,

I immediately realized that my mother should not be rich.

Sister Sun told me,

They usually don’t like to find out the past life of abandoned babies,

So they kept these two tickets all the time,

They have been waiting for the right time to talk about it when I grow up.

They have watched me for a long time,

They always felt that I am very sensible,

Now the time has come that I should be able to deal with this matter.

They used to go to this small town,

I found very few people in the small town,

If I really want to find my loved one,

It should not be difficult.

I always wanted to meet my parents at least once,

But now I got these two tickets,

I hesitated.

I am living well now,

Have a college diploma,

I even have a girlfriend who is willing to discuss about marriage with me,

Why should I go back to the past,

Looking for a completely strange past?

Moreover, there are eight out of ten,

What I found might be an unpleasant fact.

Sister Sun still encouraged me to go,

She thinks I have a bright future,

There is no reason for the mystery of my life to always be the shadow of my heart

She always advised me to prepare for the worst,

Even if the facts found are unpleasant,

It should not shake my confidence in the future.

🔐 I finally went.

This small town I have never heard of before,

Is a mountain city,

It takes more than an hour by bus from Pingtung City,

To arrive.

Although it is in the south, I could still felt the chilly winter,

There is only a police station, a town office,

A national elementary school, a national middle school,

Except that there was nothing else.

I ran back and forth in the police station and the town office, and finally found two pieces of information that seemed to be relevant to me. The first one was the birth record of a little boy.

The second is that the little boy’s family came to report missing, the mysterious disappearance was the day after I was abandoned,

When I was more than a month old.

According to the records of the nuns,

When I was found at Hsinchu Station,

Only over a month old.

It seems that I found my birth data.

The problem is: all my parents have passed away,

Mother died a few months ago.

I have an older brother,

This brother has long left the town,

I don't know where to go.

After all, in this small city, everyone knows each other,

An old police officer at the police station told me,

My mother has always been caretaker in that middle school,

He immediately took me to see the principal of Junior High School.

The principal is a lady and warmly welcomes me.

She said that indeed my mother worked as a coworker all her life,

Is a very kind old lady,

My dad is very lazy,

Other men go to the city to find work,

Only he refused to leave, occasionally did some odd jobs in the small town,

There is no odd job at all in Xiaocheng,

So he lived on my mother's income as a caretaker.

Because you don’t have a proper job, you’re always in a bad mood,

My father had to borrow wine to drown the sorrow and get drunk,

Sometimes he beats my mother, sometimes he beats my brother.

Although he regretted it afterwards, his accumulated habits are difficult to change.

Mom and brother have been troubled all their lives,

When my brother was in the second grade of junior high school,

Simply running away from home, never returned.

Your mother did have a second son,

But one month later, mysteriously disappeared.

The principal asked me many things,

I told the truth one by one,

When she knew that I grew up in an orphanage in the north.

She suddenly became very excited,

🗃 She found a big envelope in the cabinet,

This big envelope was found on her pillow after my mother died,

The principal thought that the contents inside must be meaningful,

Decided to keep and wait for his relatives to pick it up.

I opened this envelope with a trembling hand,

I found all the tickets inside,

📨A set of round-trip tickets from this southern town to Baoshan Township in Hsinchu County,

All are well preserved.

The principal told me,

Every six months my mother will go to the north to see a relative,

No one knows who this relative is,

She just felt that my mother would be in a good mood when she came back.

Mother believed in Buddhism in her later years,

She was most proud of persuading some wealthy people who believe in Buddhism,

To donate thousands of Taiwan dollars, then she

Donated this money to the orphanage of the Catholic Office,

On the day of donation, she also went to the orphanage in person.

I remembered it,

Once a large tour bus brought a group of good-looking men and women from south to north.

They brought a cheque of one million yuan,

Donate to our Deland Center.

The nuns are grateful,

Convene all the children to take photos with them,

I was playing basketball, and I was caught,

And reluctantly took a picture with everyone.

Now I actually found this photo in the letter,

I also asked others to recognize my mother,

She was standing not far from me.

What moved me more was the yearbook I graduated from,

One page was copied and placed in an envelope,

That's a page where our classmates wear party hats,

I am among them.

💌 My mother, although abandoned me,

Still come to see me all the time,

She may even have attended the graduation ceremony of my university.

The principal's voice is very calm,

she says︰

"You should thank your mother,

She abandoned you,

Is to find a better living environment for you,

If you stay here,

The best result for you is find a job in the city after graduating from junior high school,

Very few of us here can go to high school.

If you don’t do well, you can’t bear your dad’s daily scolding,

Maybe you will run away from home like your brother, never return. "

The principal gradually found other teachers,

Told them a story about me,

Most of them congratulations on my graduation from National University,

One teacher said,

They have never had students here who graduated from the National University.

I suddenly had an urge,

I asked the principal whether there was a piano in the school,

She said that their piano is not very good,

But the electric organ is brand new.

🎶 I opened the lid,

Facing the winter sunset outside the window,

I play Mother’s Day songs one by one,

I want people to know,

Although I grew up in an orphanage,

But I am not an orphan.

Because I have always had kindhearted and educated nuns,

Raised me like a mother,

Shouldn’t I treat them as my own mothers?

Not to mention, my biological mother has been caring for me,

It was her determination and sacrifice that enabled me to have a good growing environment,

And bright future.

My taboo is gone,

Not only can I play all Mother’s Day songs,

I can sing softly,

The principal and teachers sang along with me,

♥ ️ The sound of the piano came out of the campus,

The valley must be full of music from the piano,

In the sunset,

Residents of the small town will definitely ask,

Why is someone playing a Mother's Day song today?

For me, today is Mother’s Day,

This envelope full of tickets,

From now on, I am no longer afraid of Mother's Day.

👨‍⚖‍This is a touching story. The author is Li Jiatong, president of Jinan University.

Li Jiatong is a professor who teaches the orphans English in the story. However, the main character of the story was mistaken by readers as the author himself when it was circulated on the Internet. Li Jiatong himself has clarified this in an interview. The story was written according to his experience of teaching children in the monastery.

Sweet Talkers

2020-03-03T03:11:00.002-08:00

The Emperor of Qin took the Inspection tour to Taishan Mountain, at that time, few sweet talkers who travelled with the entourage along with him gave various suggestions, such as magic plants for long life. One of his local guidance said “亡秦者胡也,” which literally means Qin will be destroyed by Ho, so the emperor ordered the general Meng Tian to destroy the northern barbarian Ho with three hundred thousand soldiers, and built the Great Wall of Qin along the northern border to protect from the Ho. However, it turned out that the empire perished during the reign of the Second Emperor Qin Er-shi, whose name was Ho Hai. The prophecy was thus fulfilled unexpectedly, Ho was the name of the Emperor’s son instead of the barbarian tribe Ho on the north.

This reminds me of the Witches’ prophecy in Macbeth, the witches made Macbeth believe that he cannot be killed by any man born of a woman, he soon learnt that Macduff was "from his mother's womb Untimely ripped", meaning that Macduff was born by caesarean section.

THE STORY OF MISS LI

2018-03-11T13:23:00.003-07:00

Miss Li, ennobled with the title "Lady of Ch‘ien-kuo," was once a prostitute in Ch‘ang-an. The devotion of her conduct was so remarkable that I have thought it worth while to record her story. In the T‘ien-pao era there was a certain nobleman, Governor of Ch‘ang-chou and Lord of Jung-yang, whose name and surname I will omit. He was a man of great wealth and highly esteemed by all. He had passed his fiftieth year and had a son who was close on twenty, a boy who in literary talent outstripped all his companions. His father was proud of him and had great hopes of his future. "This," he would say, "is the "thousand-league colt" of our family." When the time came for the lad to compete at the Provincial Examinations, his father gave him fine clothes and a handsome coach with richly caparisoned horses for the journey; and to provide for his expense at the Capital, he gave him a large sum of money, saying, "I am sure that your talent is such that you will succeed at the first attempt; but I am giving you two years' supply, that you may pursue your career free from all anxiety." The young man was also quite confident and saw himself getting the first place as clearly as he saw the palm of his own hand.

Starting from P‘i-ling he reached Ch‘ang-an in a few weeks and took a house in the Pu-chēng quarter. One day he was coming back from a visit to the Eastern Market. He entered the City by the eastern gate of Ping-k‘ang and was going to visit a friend who lived in the south-western part of the town. When he reached the Ming-k‘o Bend, he saw a house of which the gate and courtyard were rather narrow; but the house itself was stately and stood well back from the road. One of the double doors was open, and at it stood a lady, attended by her maid-servant. She was of exquisite, bewitching beauty, such as the world has seldom produced.

When he saw her, the young man unconsciously reined in his horse and hesitated. Unable to leave the spot, he purposely let his whip fall to the ground and waited for his servant to pick it up, all the time staring at the lady in the doorway. She too was staring and met his gaze with a look that seemed to be an answer to his admiration. But in the end he went away without daring to speak to her.

But he could not put the thought of her out of his mind and secretly begged those of his friends who were most expert in the pleasures of Ch‘ang-an to tell him what they knew of the girl. He learnt from them that the house belonged to a low and unprincipled woman named Li. When he asked what chance he had of winning the daughter, they answered: "The woman Li is possessed of considerable property, for her previous dealings have been with wealthy and aristocratic families, from whom she has received enormous sums. Unless you are willing to spend many thousand pounds, the daughter will have nothing to do with you."

The young man answered: "All I care about is to win her. I do not mind if she costs a million pounds." The next day he set out in his best clothes, with many servants riding behind him, and knocked at the door of Mrs. Li's house. Immediately a page-boy drew the bolt. The young man asked, "Can you tell me whose house this is?" The boy did not answer, but ran back into the house and called out at the top of his voice, "Here is the gentleman who dropped his whip the other day!"

Miss Li was evidently very much pleased. He heard her saying, "Be sure not to let him go away. I am just going to do my hair and change my clothes; I will be back in a minute." The young man, in high spirits, followed the page-boy into the house. A white-haired old lady was going upstairs, whom he took to be the girl's mother. Bowing low, the young man addressed her as follows: "I am told that you have a vacant plot of land, which you would be willing to let as building-ground. Is that true?" The old lady answered, "I am afraid the site is too mean and confined; it would be quite unsuitable for a gentleman's house. I should not like to offer it to you." She then took him into the guest-room, which was a very handsome one, and asked him to be seated, saying, "I have a daughter who has little either of beauty or accomplishment, but she is fond of seeing strangers. I should like you to meet her."

So saying, she called for her daughter, who presently entered. Her eyes sparkled with such fire, her arms were so dazzling white and there was in her movements such an exquisite grace that the young man could only leap to his feet in confusion and did not dare raise his eyes. When their salutations were over, he began to make a few remarks about the weather; and realized as he did so that her beauty was of a kind he had never encountered before.

They sat down again. Tea was made and wine poured out. The vessels used were spotlessly clean. He lingered till the day was almost over; the curfew-drum sounded its four beats. The old lady asked if he lived far away. He answered untruthfully, "Several leagues beyond the Yenp‘ing Gate," hoping that they would ask him to stay. The old lady said, "The drum has sounded. You will have to go back at once, unless you mean to break the law."

The young man answered, "I was being so agreeably entertained that I did not notice how rapidly the day had fled. My house is a long way off and in the city I have no friends or relations. What am I to do?" Miss Li then interposed, saying, "If you can forgive the meanness of our poor home, what harm would there be in your spending the night with us?" He looked doubtfully at the girl's mother, but met with no discouragement.

Calling his servants, he gave them money and told them to buy provisions for the night. But the girl laughingly stopped him, saying, "That is not the way guests are entertained. Our humble house will provide for your wants to-night, if you are willing to partake of our simple fare and defer your bounty to another occasion." He tried to refuse, but in the end she would not allow him to, and they all moved to the western hall. The curtains, screens, blinds and couches were of dazzling splendour; while the toilet-boxes, rugs, and pillows were of the utmost elegance. Candles were lighted and an excellent supper was served.

After supper the old lady retired, leaving the lovers engaged in the liveliest conversation, laughing and chattering completely at their ease.

After a while the young man said: "I passed your house the other day and you happened to be standing at the door. And after that, I could think of nothing but you; whether I lay down to rest or sat down to eat, I could not stop thinking of you." She laughed and answered: "It was just the same with me." He said: "You must know that I did not come to-day simply to look for building-land. I came hoping that you would fulfil my lifelong desire; but I was not sure how you would welcome me. What—"

He had not finished speaking when the old woman came back and asked what they were saying. When they told her, she laughed and said, "Has not Mencius written that "the relationship between men and women is the groundwork of society"? When lovers are agreed, not even the mandate of a parent will deter them. But my daughter is of humble birth. Are you sure that she is fit to "present pillow and mat" to a great man?"

He came down from the daïs and, bowing low, begged that she would accept him as her slave. Henceforward the old lady regarded him as her son-in-law; they drank heavily together and finally parted. Next morning he had all his boxes and bags brought round to Mrs. Li's house and settled there permanently. Henceforward he shut himself up with his mistress and none of his friends ever heard of him. He consorted only with actors and dancers and low people of that kind, passing the time in wild sports and wanton feasting. When his money was all spent, he sold his horses and men-servants. In about a year his money, property, servants and horses were all gone.

For some time the old lady's manner towards him had been growing gradually colder, but his mistress remained as devoted as ever. One day she said to him, "We have been together a year, but I am still not with child. They say that the spirit of the Bamboo Grove answers a woman's prayers as surely as an echo. Let us go to his temple and offer a libation."

The young man, not suspecting any plot, was delighted to take her to the temple, and having pawned his coat to buy sweet wine for the libation, he went with her and performed the ceremony of prayer. They stayed one night at the temple and came back next day. Whipping up their donkey, they soon arrived at the north gate of the P‘ing-k‘ang quarter. At this point his mistress turned to him and said, "My aunt's house is in a turning just near here. How would it be if we were to go there and rest for a little?"

He drove on as she directed him, and they had not gone more than a hundred paces, when he saw the entrance to a spacious carriage-drive. A servant who belonged to the place came out and stopped the cart, saying, "This is the entrance." The young man got down and was met by some one who came out and asked who they were. When told that it was Miss Li, he went back and announced her. Presently a married lady came out who seemed to be about forty. She greeted him, saying, "Has my niece arrived?" Miss Li then got out of the cart and her aunt said to her: "Why have you not been to see me for so long?" At which they looked at one another and laughed. Then Miss Li introduced him to her aunt and when that was over they all went into a side garden near the Western Halberd Gate. In the middle of the garden was a pagoda, and round it grew bamboos and trees of every variety, while ponds and summer-houses added to its air of seclusion. He asked Miss Li if this were her aunt's estate; she laughed, but did not answer and spoke of something else.

Tea of excellent quality was served; but when they had been drinking it for a little while, a messenger came galloping up on a huge Fergana horse, saying that Miss Li's mother had suddenly been taken very ill and had already lost consciousness, so that they had better come back as quickly as possible.

Miss Li said to her aunt: "I am very much upset. I think I had better take the horse and ride on ahead. Then I will send it back, and you and my husband can come along later." The young man was anxious to go with her, but the aunt and her servants engaged him in conversation, flourishing their hands in front of him and preventing him from leaving the garden. The aunt said to him: "No doubt my sister is dead by this time. You and I ought to discuss together what can be done to help with the expenses of the burial. What is the use of running off like that? Stay here and help me to make a plan for the funeral and mourning ceremonies."

It grew late; but the messenger had not returned. The aunt said: "I am surprised he has not come back with the horse. You had better go there on foot as quickly as possible and see what has happened. I will come on later."

The young man set out on foot for Mrs. Li's house. When he got there he found the gate firmly bolted, locked and sealed. Astounded, he questioned the neighbors, who told him that the house had only been let to Mrs. Li and that, the lease having expired, the landlord had now resumed possession. The old lady, they said, had gone to live elsewhere. They did not know her new address.

At first he thought of hurrying back to Hsûan-yang and questioning the aunt; but he found it was too late for him to get there. So he pawned some of his clothes, and, with the proceeds, bought himself supper and hired a bed. But he was too angry and distressed to sleep, and did not once close his eyes from dusk till dawn. Early in the morning he dragged himself away and went to the "aunt's house." He knocked on the door repeatedly, but it was breakfast-time and no one answered. At last, when he had shouted several times at the top of his voice, a footman walked majestically to the door. The young man nervously mentioned the aunt's name and asked whether she was at home. The footman replied: "No one of that name here." "But she lived here yesterday evening," the young man protested; "why are you trying to deceive me? If she does not live here, who does the house belong to?" The footman answered: "This is the residence of His Excellency Mr. Ts‘ui. I believe that yesterday some persons hired a corner of the grounds. I understand that they wished to entertain a cousin who was coming from a distance. But they were gone before nightfall."

The young man, perplexed and puzzled to the point of madness, was absolutely at a loss what to do next. The best he could think of was to go to the quarters in Pu-chēng, where he had installed himself when he first arrived at Ch‘ang-an. The landlord was sympathetic and offered to feed him. But the young man was too much upset to eat, and having fasted for three days fell seriously ill. He rapidly grew worse, and the landlord, fearing he would not recover, had him moved straight to the undertaker's shop. In a short time the whole of the undertaker's staff was collected round him, offering sympathy and bringing him food. Gradually he got better and was able to walk with a stick.

The undertaker now hired him by the day to hold up the curtains of fine cloth, by which he earned just enough to support himself. In a few months he grew quite strong again, but whenever he heard the mourners' doleful songs, in which they regretted that they could not change places with the corpse, burst into violent fits of sobbing and shed streams of tears over which they lost all control, then he used to go home and imitate their performance.

Being a man of intelligence, he very soon mastered the art and finally became the most expert mourner in Ch‘ang-an. It happened that there were two undertakers at this time between whom there was a great rivalry. The undertaker of the east turned out magnificent hearses and biers, and in this respect his superiority could not be contested. But the mourners he provided were somewhat inferior. Hearing of our young man's skill, he offered him a large sum for his services. The eastern undertaker's supporters, who were familiar with the repertoire of his company, secretly taught the young man several fresh tunes and showed him how to fit the words to them. The lessons went on for several weeks, without any one being allowed to know of it. At the end of that time the two undertakers agreed to hold a competitive exhibition of their wares in T‘ien-mên Street. The loser was to forfeit 50,000 cash to cover the cost of the refreshments provided. Before the exhibition an agreement was drawn up and duly signed by witnesses.

A crowd of several thousand people collected to watch the competition. The mayor of the quarter got wind of the proceedings and told the chief of police. The chief of police told the governor of the city. Very soon all the gentlemen of Ch‘ang-an were hurrying to the spot and every house in the town was empty. The exhibition lasted from dawn till midday. Coaches, hearses and all kinds of funeral trappings were successively displayed, but the undertaker of the west could establish no superiority. Filled with shame, he set up a platform in the south corner of the square. Presently a man with a long beard came forward, carrying a hand-bell and attended by several assistants. He wagged his beard, raised his eyebrows, folded his arms across his chest and bowed. Then, mounting the platform, he sang the "Dirge of the White Horse." When it was over, confident of an easy victory, he glared round him, as if to imply that his opponents had all vanished. He was applauded on every side and was himself convinced that his talents were a unique product of the age and could not possibly be called into question.

After a while the undertaker of the eas Garlic t put together some benches in the north corner of the square, and a young man in a black hat came forward, attended by five assistants and carrying a bunch of hearse-plumes in his hand. It was the young man of our story.

He adjusted his clothes, looked timidly up and down, and then cleared his throat and began his tune with an air of great diffidence.

He sang the dirge "Dew on the Garlic." His voice rose so shrill and clear that "its echoes shook the forest trees." Before he had finished the first verse, all who heard were sobbing and hiding their tears.

When the performance was over, every one made fun of the western undertaker, and he was so much put out that he immediately removed his exhibits and retired from the contest. The audience was amazed by the collapse of the western undertaker and could not imagine where his rival had procured so remarkable a singer.

It happened that the Emperor had recently issued an order commanding the governors of outside provinces to confer with him at the capital at least once a year.

At this time the young man's father, who was governor of Ch‘ang-chou, had recently arrived at the capital to make his report. Hearing of the competition, he and some of his colleagues discarded their official robes and insignia, and slipped away to join the crowd. With them was an old servant, who was the husband of the young man's foster-nurse. Recognizing his foster-son's way of moving and speaking, he was on the point of accosting him, but not daring to do so, he stood weeping silently. The father asked him why he was crying, and the servant replied, "Sir, the young man who is singing reminds me of your lost son." The father answered: "My son became the prey of robbers, because I gave him too much money. This cannot be he." So saying, he also began to weep and, leaving the crowd, returned to his lodging.

But the old servant went about among the members of the troupe, asking who it was that had just sung with such skill. They all told him it was the son of such a one; and when he asked the young man's own name, that too was unfamiliar, for he was living under an alias. The old servant was so much puzzled that he determined to put the matter to the test for himself. But when the young man saw his old friend walking towards him, he winced, turned away his face, and tried to hide in the crowd. The old man followed him and catching his sleeve, said: "Surely it is you!" Then they embraced and wept. Presently they went back together to his father's lodging. But his father abused him, saying: "Your conduct has disgraced the family. How dare you show your face again?" So saying, he took him out of the house and led him to the ground between the Ch‘û-chiang Pond and the Apricot Gardens. Here he stripped him naked and thrashed him with his horse-whip, till the young man succumbed to the pain and collapsed. The father then left him and went away.

But the young man's singing-master had told some of his friends to watch what happened to him. When they saw him stretched inanimate on the ground, they came back and told the other members of the troupe.

The news occasioned universal lamentation, and two men were despatched with a reed mat to cover up the body. When they got there they found his heart still warm, and when they had held him in an upright posture for some time, his breathing recommenced. So they carried him home between them and administered liquid food through a reed-pipe. Next morning, he recovered consciousness; but after several months he was still unable to move his hands and feet. Moreover, the sores left by his thrashing festered in so disgusting a manner that his friends found him too troublesome, and one night deposited him in the middle of the road. However, the passers-by, harrowed by his condition, never failed to throw him scraps of food.

So copious was his diet that in three months he recovered sufficiently to hobble with a stick. Clad in a linen coat,—which was knotted together in a hundred places, so that it looked as tattered as a quail's tail,—and carrying a broken saucer in his hand, he now went about the idle quarters of the town, earning his living as a professional beggar.

Autumn had now turned to winter. He spent his nights in public lavatories and his days haunting the markets and booths.

One day when it was snowing hard, hunger and cold had driven him into the streets. His beggar's cry was full of woe and all who heard it were heart-rent. But the snow was so heavy that hardly a house had its outer door open, and the streets were empty.

When he reached the eastern gate of An-i, about the seventh or eighth turning north of the Hsün-li Wall, there was a house with the double-doors half open.

It was the house where Miss Li was then living, but the young man did not know.

He stood before the door, wailing loud and long. Hunger and cold had given such a piteous accent to his cry that none could have listened unmoved.

Miss Li heard it from her room and at once said to her servant, "That is so-and-so. I know his voice." She flew to the door and was horrified to see her old lover standing before her so emaciated by hunger and disfigured by sores that he seemed scarcely human. "Can it be you?" she said. But the young man was so overcome by bewilderment and excitement that he could not speak, but only moved his lips noiselessly.

She threw her arms round his neck, then wrapped him in her own embroidered jacket and led him to the parlour. Here, with quavering voice, she reproached herself, saying, "It is my doing that you have been brought to this pass." And with these words she swooned.

Her mother came running up in great excitement, asking who had arrived. Miss Li, recovering herself, said who it was. The old woman cried out in rage: "Send him away! What did you bring him in here for?"

But Miss Li looked up at her defiantly and said: "Not so! This is the son of a noble house. Once he rode in grand coaches and wore golden trappings on his coat. But when he came to our house, he soon lost all he had; and then we plotted together and left him destitute. Our conduct has indeed been inhuman! We have ruined his career and robbed him even of his place in the category of human relationships. For the love of father and son is implanted by Heaven; yet we have hardened his father's heart, so that he beat him with a stick and left him on the ground.

"Every one in the land knows that it is I who have reduced him to his present plight. The Court is full of his kinsmen. Some day one of them will come into power. Then an inquiry will be set afoot, and disaster will overtake us. And since we have flouted Heaven and defied the laws of humanity, neither spirits nor divinities will be on our side. Let us not wantonly incur a further retribution!

"I have lived as your daughter for twenty years. Reckoning what I have cost you in that time, I find it must be close on a thousand pieces of gold. You are now aged sixty, so that by the price of twenty more years' food and clothing, I can buy my freedom. I intend to live separately with this young man. We will not go far away; I shall see to it that we are near enough to pay our respects to you both morning and evening."

The "mother" saw that she was not to be gainsaid and fell in with the arrangement. When she had paid her ransom, Miss Li had a hundred pieces of gold left over; and with them she hired a vacant room, five doors away. Here she gave the young man a bath, changed his clothes, fed him with hot soup to relax his stomach, and later on fattened him up with cheese and milk.

In a few weeks she began to place before him all the choicest delicacies of land and sea; and she clothed him with cap, shoes and stockings of the finest quality. In a short time he began gradually to put on flesh, and by the end of the year, he had entirely recovered his former health.

One day Miss Li said to him: "Now your limbs are stout again and your will strong! Sometimes, when deeply pondering in silent sorrow, I wonder to myself how much you remember of your old literary studies?" He thought and answered: "Of ten parts I remember two or three."

Miss Li then ordered the carriage to be got ready and the young man followed her on horseback. When they reached the classical bookshop at the side-gate south of the Flag-tower, she made him choose all the books he wanted, till she had laid out a hundred pieces of gold. Then she packed them in the cart and drove home. She now made him dismiss all other thoughts from his mind and apply himself only to study. All the evening he toiled at his books, with Miss Li at his side, and they did not retire till midnight. If ever she found that he was too tired to work, she made him lay down his classics and write a poem or ode.

In two years he had thoroughly mastered his subjects and was admired by all the scholars of the realm. He said to Miss Li, "Now, surely, I am ready for the examiners!" but she would not let him compete and made him revise all he had learnt, to prepare for the "hundredth battle." At the end of the third year she said, "Now you may go." He went in for the examination and passed at the first attempt. His reputation spread rapidly through the examination rooms and even older men, when they saw his compositions, were filled with admiration and respect, and sought his friendship.

But Miss Li would not let him make friends with them, saying, "Wait a little longer! Nowadays when a bachelor of arts has passed his examination, he thinks himself fit to hold the most advantageous posts at test results Court and to win a universal reputation. But your unfortunate conduct and disreputable past put you at a disadvantage beside your fellow-scholars. You must "grind, temper and sharpen" your attainments, that you may secure a second victory. Then you will be able to match yourself against famous scholars and contend with the illustrious."

The young man accordingly increased his efforts and enhanced his value. T test resultshat year it happened that the Emperor had decreed a special examination for the selection of candidates of unusual merit from all parts of the Empire. The young man competed, and came out top in the "censorial essay." He was offered the post of Army Inspector at Ch‘ēng-tu Fu. The officers who were to escort him were all previous friends.

When he was about to take up his post, Miss Li said to him, "Now that you are restored to your proper station in life, I will not be a burden to you. Let me go back and look after the old lady till she dies. You must ally yourself with some lady of noble lineage, who will be worthy to carry the sacrificial dishes in your Ancestral Hall. Do not injure your prospects by an unequal union. Good-bye, for now I must leave you."

The young man burst into tears and threatened to kill himself if she left him, but she obstinately refused to go with him. He begged her passionately not to desert him, and she at last consented to go with him across the river as far as Chien-mēn. "There," she said, "you must part with me." The young man consented and in a few weeks they reached Chien-mên. Before he had started out again, a proclamation arrived announcing that the young man's father, who had been Governor of Ch‘ang-chou, had been appointed Governor of Ch‘ēng-tu and Intendant of the Chien-nan Circuit. Next morning the father arrived, and the young man sent in his card and waited upon him at the posting-station. His father did not recognize him, but the card bore the names of the young man's father and grandfather, with their ranks and titles. When he read these, he was astounded, and bidding his son mount the steps he caressed him and wept. After a while he said: "Now we two are father and son once more," and bade him tell his story. When he heard of the young man's adventures, he was amazed. Presently he asked: "And where is Miss Li?" He replied: "She came with me as far as here, but now she is going back again."

"I cannot allow it," the father said. Next day he ordered a carriage for his son and sent him on to report himself at Ch‘ēng-tu; but he detained Miss Li at Chien-mēn, found her a suitable lodging and ordered a match-maker to perform the initial ceremonies for uniting the two families and to accomplish the six rites of welcome. The young man came back from Ch‘eng-tu and they were duly married. In the years that followed their marriage, Miss Li showed herself a devoted wife and competent housekeeper, and was beloved by all her relations.

Some years later both the young man's parents died, and in his mourning observances he showed unusual piety. As a mark of divine favour, magic toadstools grew on the roof of his mourning-hut, each stem bearing three plants. The report of his virtue reached even the Emperor's ears. Moreover a number of white swallows nested in the beams of his roof, an omen which so impressed the Emperor that he raised his rank immediately.

When the three years of mourning were over, he was successively promoted to various distinguished posts and in the course of ten years was Governor of several provinces.

Miss Li was given the fief of Chien-kuo, with the title "The Lady of Chien-kuo."

He had four sons who all held high rank. Even the least successful of them became Governor of T‘ai-yüan, and his brothers all married into great families, so that his good fortune both in public and private life was without parallel.

How strange that we should find in the conduct of a prostitute a degree of constancy rarely equalled even by the heroines of history! Surely the story is one which cannot but provoke a sigh!

My great-uncle was Governor of Chin-chou; subsequently he joined the Ministry of Finance and became Inspector of Waterways, and finally Inspector of Roads. In all these three offices he had Miss Li's husband as his colleague, so that her story was well known to him in every particular. During the Chēng-yüan period I was sitting one day with Li Kung-tso of Lung-hai; we fell to talking of wives who had distinguished themselves by remarkable conduct. I told him the story of Miss Li. He listened with rapt attention, and when it was over, asked me to write it down for him. So I took up my brush, wetted the hairs and made this rough outline of the story.

(Dated) autumn, eighth month of the year Yi-hai, (A.D. 795), written by Po-Hsing-chien of T‘ai-yüan.

THE STORY OF TS‘UI YING-YING

2018-03-10T11:17:00.000-08:00

During the Chēng-Yüan (A. D. 785-805) period of the T‘ang dynasty there lived a man called Chang. His nature was gentle and refined, and his person of great beauty. But his deeper feelings were resolutely held in restraint, and he would indulge in no license. Sometimes his friends took him to a party and he would try to join their frolics; but when the rest were shouting and scuffling their hardest, Chang only pretended to take his share. For he could never overcome his shyness. So it came about that though already twenty-three, he had not yet enjoyed a woman's beauty. To those who questioned him he answered, "It is not such as Master Tēng-t’u who are true lovers of beauty; for they are merely profligates. I consider myself a lover of beauty, who happens never to have met with it. And I am of this opinion because I know that, in other things, whatever is beautiful casts its spell upon me; so that I cannot be devoid of feeling." His questioners only laughed.

About this time Chang went to Puchow. Some two miles east of the town there is a temple called the P‘-u-chiu-ssŭ (the Temple of Universal Salvation), and here he took up his lodging. Now it happened that at this time the widow of a certain Ts‘ui was returning to Ch‘ang-an. She passed through Puchow on her way and stayed at the same temple.

This lady was born of the Chēng family and Chang's mother was also a Chēng. He unravelled their relationship and found that they were second-cousins.

This year General Hun-Chang died at Puchow. There was a certain Colonel Ting Wēn-ya who ill-treated his troops. The soldiers accordingly made Hun Chang's funeral the occasion of a mutiny, and began to plunder the town. The Ts‘ui family had brought with them much valuable property and many slaves. Subjected to this sudden danger when far from home, they had no one from whom they could seek protection.

Now it happened that Chang had been friendly with the political party to which the commander at Puchow belonged. At his request a guard was sent to the temple and no disorder took place there. A few days afterwards the Civil Commissioner Tu Chio was ordered by the Emperor to take over the command of the troops. The mutineers then laid down their arms.

The widow Chēng was very sensible of the service which Chang had rendered. She therefore provided dainties and invited him to a banquet in the middle hall. At table she turned to him and said, "I, your cousin, a lonely and widowed relict, had young ones in my care. If we had fallen into the hands of the soldiery, I could not have helped them. Therefore the lives of my little boy and young daughter were
saved by your protection, and they owe you eternal gratitude. I will now cause them to kneel before you, their merciful cousin, that they may thank you for your favours." First she sent for her son, Huan-lang, who was about ten years old, a handsome and gentle child. Then she called to her daughter, Ying-ying: "Come and bow to your cousin. Your cousin saved your life." For a long while she would not come, saying that she was not well. The widow grew angry and cried: "Your cousin saved your life. But for his help, you would now be a prisoner. How can you treat him so rudely?"

At last she came in, dressed in everyday clothes, with a look of deep unhappiness in her face. She had not put on any ornaments. Her hair hung down in coils, the black of her two eyebrows joined, her cheeks were not rouged. But her features were of exquisite beauty and shone with an almost dazzling lustre.

Chang bowed to her, amazed. She sat down by her mother's side and looked all the time towards her, turning from him with a fixed stare of aversion, as though she could not endure his presence.

He asked how old she was. The widow answered, "She was born in the year of the present Emperor's reign that was a year of the Rat, and now it is the year of the Dragon in the period Chēng-yüan. So she must be seventeen years old."

Chang tried to engage her in conversation, but she would not answer, and soon the dinner was over. He was passionately in love with her and wanted to tell her so, but could find no way.

Ying-ying had a maid-servant called Hung-niang, whom Chang sometimes met and greeted. Once he stopped her and was beginning to tell her of his love for her mistress; but she was frightened and ran away. Then Chang was sorry he had not kept silence.

Next day he met Hung-niang again, but was ashamed and did not say what was in his mind. But this time the maid herself broached the subject and said to Chang, "Master, I dare not tell her what you told me, or even hint at it. But since your mother was a kinswoman of the Ts‘uis, why do you not seek my mistress's hand on that plea?"

Chang said, "Since I was a child in arms, my nature has been averse to intimacy. Sometimes I have idled with wearers of silk and gauze, but my fancy was never once detained. I little thought that in the end I should be entrapped.

"Lately at the banquet I could scarcely contain myself; and since then, when I walk, I forget where I am going and when I eat, I forget to finish my meal, and do not know how to endure the hours from dawn to dusk.

"If we were to get married through a matchmaker and perform the ceremonies of Sending Presents and Asking Names, it would take many months, and by that time you would have to look for me "in the dried-fish shop." What is the use of giving me such advice as that?"

The maid replied, "My mistress clings steadfastly to her chastity, and even an equal could not trip her with lewd talk. Much less may she be won through the stratagems of a maidservant. But she is skilled in composition, and often when she has made a poem or essay, she is restless and dissatisfied for a long while after. You must try to provoke her by a love-poem. There is no other way."

Chang was delighted and at once composed two Spring Poems to send her. Hung-niang took them away and came back the same evening with a coloured tablet, which she gave to Chang, saying, "This is from my mistress." It bore the title "The Bright Moon of the Fifteenth Night." The words ran:

To wait for the moon I am sitting in the western parlour,
To greet the wind, I have left the door ajar.
When a flower's shadow stirred and brushed the wall,
For a moment I thought it the shadow of a lover coming.

Chang could not doubt her meaning. That night was the fourth after the first decade of the second month. Beside the eastern wall of Ts‘ui's apartments there grew an apricot-tree; by climbing it one could cross the wall. On the next night (which was the night of the full moon) Chang used the tree as a ladder and crossed the wall. He went straight to the western parlour and found the door ajar. Hung-niang lay asleep on the bed. He woke her, and she cried in a voice of astonishment, "Master Chang, what are you doing here?" Chang answered, half-truly: "Ts‘ui's letter invited me. Tell her I have come." Hung-niang soon returned, whispering, "She is coming, she is coming." Chang was both delighted and surprised, thinking that his salvation was indeed at hand.

At last Ts‘ui entered.

Her dress was sober and correct, and her face was stern. She at once began to reprimand Chang, saying, "I am grateful for the service which you rendered to my family. You gave support to my dear mother when she was at a loss how to save her little boy and young daughter. How came you to send me a wicked message by the hand of a low maidservant? In protecting me from the license of others, you acted nobly. But now that you wish to make me a partner to your own licentious desires, you are asking me to accept one wrong in exchange for another.

"How was I to repel this advance? I would gladly have hidden your letter, but it would have been immoral to harbour a record of illicit proposals. Had I shown it to my mother, I should ill have requited the debt we owe you. Were I to entrust a message of refusal to a servant or concubine, I feared it might not be truly delivered. I thought of writing a letter to tell you what I felt; but I was afraid I might not be able to make you understand. So I sent those trivial verses, that I might be sure of your coming. I have no cause to be ashamed of an irregularity which had no other object but the preservation of my chastity."

With these words she vanished. Chang remained for a long while petrified with astonishment. At last he climbed back over the wall and went home in despair.

Several nights after this he was lying asleep near the verandah, when some one suddenly woke him. He rose with a startled sigh and found that Hung-niang was there, with bed-clothes under her arm and a pillow in her hand. She shook Chang, saying, "She is coming, she is coming. Why are you asleep?" Then she arranged the bedclothes and pillow and went away.

Chang sat up and rubbed his eyes. For a long while he thought he must be dreaming, but he assumed a respectful attitude and waited.

Suddenly Hung-niang came back, bringing her mistress with her. Ts‘ui, this time, was languid and flushed, yielding and wanton in her air, as though her strength could scarcely support her limbs. Her former severity had utterly disappeared.

That night was the eighth of the second decade. The crystal beams of the sinking moon twinkled secretly across their bed. Chang, in a strange exaltation, half-believed that a fairy had come to him, and not a child of mortal men.

At last the temple bell sounded, dawn glimmered in the sky and Hung-niang came back to fetch her mistress away. Ts‘ui turned on her side with a pretty cry, and followed her maid to the door.

The whole night she had not spoken a word.

Chang rose when it was half-dark, still thinking that perhaps it had been a dream. But when it grew light, he saw her powder on his arm and smelt her perfume in his clothes. A tear she had shed still glittered on the mattress.

For more than ten days afterwards he did not see her again. During this time he began to make a poem called "Meeting a Fairy," in thirty couplets. It was not yet finished, when he chanced to meet Hung-niang in the road. He asked her to take the poem to Ts‘ui.

After this Ts‘ui let him come to her, and for a month or more he crept out at dawn and in at dusk, the two of them living together in that western parlour of which I spoke before.

Chang often asked her what her mother thought of him. T‘sui said, "I know she would not oppose my will. So why should we not get married at once?"

Soon afterwards, Chang had to go to the capital. Before starting, he tenderly informed her of his departure. She did not reproach him, but her face showed pitiable distress. On the night before he started, he was not able to see her.

After spending a few months in the west, Chang returned to Puchow and again lodged for several months in the same building as the Ts‘uis. He made many attempts to see Ying-ying alone, but she would not let him do so. Remembering that she was fond of calligraphy and verse, he frequently sent her his own compositions, but she scarcely glanced at them.

It was characteristic of her that when any situation was at its acutest point, she appeared quite unconscious of it. She talked glibly, but would seldom answer a question. She expected absolute devotion, but herself gave no encouragement.

Sometimes when she was in the depth of despair, she would affect all the while to be quite indifferent. It was rarely possible to know from her face whether she was pleased or sorry.

One night Chang came upon her unawares when she was playing on the harp, with a touch full of passion. But when she saw him coming, she stopped playing. This incident increased his infatuation.

Soon afterwards, it became time for him to compete in the Literary Examinations, and he was obliged once more to set out for the western capital.

The evening before his departure, he sat in deep despondency by Ts‘ui's side, but did not try again to tell her of his love. Nor had he told her that he was going away, but she seemed to have guessed it, and with submissive face and gentle voice, she said to him softly: "Those whom a man leads astray, he will in the end abandon. It must be so, and I will not reproach you. You deigned to corrupt me and now you deign to leave me. That is all. And your vows of "faithfulness till death"—they too are cancelled. There is no need for you to grieve at this parting, but since I see you so sad and can give you no other comfort—you once praised my harp-playing; but I was bashful and would not play to you. Now I am bolder, and if you choose, I will play you a tune."

She took her harp and began the prelude to "Rainbow Skirts and Feather Jackets." But after a few bars the tune broke off into a wild and passionate dirge.

All who were present caught their breath; but in a moment she stopped playing, threw down her harp and, weeping bitterly, ran to her mother's room.

She did not come back.
extricated himself from this entanglement
Next morning Chang left. The following year he failed in his examinations and could not leave the capital. So, to unburden his heart, he wrote a letter to Ts‘ui. She answered him somewhat in this fashion: "I have read your letter and cherish it dearly. It has filled my heart half with sorrow, half with joy. You sent with it a box of garlands and five sticks of paste, that I may decorate my head and colour my lips.

"I thank you for your presents; but there is no one now to care how I look. Seeing these things only makes me think of you and grieve the more.

"You say that you are prospering in your career at the capital, and I am comforted by that news. But it makes me fear you will never come back again to one who is so distant and humble. But that is settled forever, and it is no use talking of it.

"Since last autumn I have lived in a dazed stupor. Amid the clamour of the daytime, I have sometimes forced myself to laugh and talk; but alone at night I have done nothing but weep. Or, if I have fallen asleep my dreams have always been full of the sorrows of parting. Often I dreamt that you came to me as you used to do, but always before the moment of our joy your phantom vanished from my side. Yet, though we are still bedfellows in my dreams, when I wake and think of it the time when we were together seems very far off. For since we parted, the old year has slipped away and a new year has begun…

"Ch‘ang-an is a city of pleasure, where there are many snares to catch a young man's heart. How can I hope that you will not forget one so sequestered and insignificant as I? And indeed, if you were to be faithful, so worthless a creature, could never requite you. But our vows of unending love—those I at least can fulfil.

Because you are my cousin, I met you at the feast. Lured by a maid-servant, I visited you in private. A girl's heart is not in her own keeping. You "tempted me by your ballads" and I could not bring myself to "throw the shuttle."

Then came the sharing of pillow and mat, the time of perfect loyalty and deepest tenderness. And I, being young and foolish, thought it would never end.

Now, having "seen my Prince," I cannot love again; nor, branded by the shame of self-surrender, am I fit to perform "the service of towel and comb"; and of the bitterness of the long celibacy which awaits me, what need is there to speak?

"The good man uses his heart; and if by chance his gaze has fallen on the humble and insignificant, till the day of his death, he continues the affections of his life. The cynic cares nothing for people's feelings. He will discard the small to follow the great, look upon a former mistress merely as an accomplice in sin, and hold that the most solemn vows are made only to be broken. He will reverse all natural laws—as though Nature should suddenly let bone dissolve, while cinnabar resisted the fire. The dew that the wind has shaken from the tree still looks for kindness from the dust; and such, too, is the sum of my hopes and fears.

"As I write, I am shaken by sobs and cannot tell you all that is in my heart. My darling, I am sending you a jade ring that I used to play with when I was a child. I want you to wear it at your girdle, that you may become firm and flawless as this jade, and, in your affections, unbroken as the circuit of this ring.

"And with it I am sending a skein of thread and a tea-trough of flecked bamboo. There is no value in these few things. I send them only to remind you to keep your heart pure as jade and your affection unending as this round ring. The bamboo is mottled as if with tears, and the thread is tangled as the thoughts of those who are in sorrow. By these tokens I seek no more than that, knowing the truth, you may think kindly of me for ever.

"Our hearts are very near, but our bodies are far apart. There is no time fixed for our meeting; yet a secret longing can unite souls that are separated by a thousand miles.

"Protect yourself against the cold spring wind, eat well—look after yourself in all ways and do not worry too much about your worthless handmaid,

Ts‘ui Ying-Ying."

Chang showed this letter to his friends and so the story became known to many who lived at that time. All who heard it were deeply moved; but Chang, to their disappointment, declared that he meant to break with Ts‘ui. Yüan Chēn, of Honan, who knew Chang well, asked him why he had made this decision.

Chang answered:

"I have observed that in Nature whatever has perfect beauty is either itself liable to sudden transformations or else is the cause of them in others. If Ts‘ui were to marry a rich gentleman and become his pet, she would forever be changing, as the clouds change to rain, or as the scaly dragon turns into the horned dragon. I, for one, could never keep pace with her transformations.

"Of old, Hsin of the Yin dynasty and Yu of the Chou dynasty ruled over kingdoms of many thousand chariots, and their strength was very great. Yet a single woman brought them to ruin, dissipating their hosts and leading these monarchs to the assassin's knife. So that to this day they are a laughing-stock to all the world. I know that my constancy could not withstand such spells, and that is why I have curbed my passion."

At these words all who were present sighed deeply.

A few years afterwards Ts‘ui married some one else and Chang also found a wife. Happening once to pass the house where Ts‘ui was living, he called on her husband and asked to see her, saying he was her cousin. The husband sent for her, but she would not come. Chang's vexation showed itself in his face. Some one told Ts‘ui of this and she secretly wrote the poem:

Since I have grown so lean, my face has lost its beauty.
I have tossed and turned so many times that I am too tired to leave my bed.
It is not that I mind the others seeing
How ugly I have grown;
It is you who have caused me to lose my beauty,
Yet it is you I am ashamed should see me!

Chang went away without meeting her, and a few days afterwards, when he was leaving the town, wrote a poem of final farewell, which said:

You cannot say that you are abandoned and deserted;
For you have found some one to love you.
Why do you not convert your broodings over the past
Into kindness to your present husband?

After that they never heard of one another again. Many of Chang's contemporaries praised the skill with which he extricated himself from this entanglement.

The white lie of a skilled physician

2017-11-04T16:29:00.001-07:00

"Suppose, for example, that there is a skilled physician who is wise and understanding and knows how to compound medicines to effectively cure all kinds of diseases. He has many sons, perhaps ten, twenty, or even a hundred. He goes off to some other land far away to see about a certain affair. After he has gone, the children drink some kind of poison that make them distraught with pain and they fall writhing to the ground.

"At that time the father returns to his home and finds that his children have drunk poison. Some are completely out of their minds, while others are not. Seeing their father from far off, all are overjoyed and kneel down and entreat him, saying: 'How fine that you have returned safely. We were stupid and by mistake drank some poison. We beg you to cure us and let us live out our lives!'

"The father, seeing his children suffering like this, follows various prescriptions. Gathering fine medicinal herbs that meet all the requirements of color, fragrance and flavor, he grinds, sifts and mixes them together. Giving a dose of these to his children, he tells them: 'This is a highly effective medicine, meeting all the requirements of color, fragrance and flavor. Take it and you will quickly be relieved of your sufferings and will be free of all illness.'

"Those children who have not lost their senses can see that this is good medicine, outstanding in both color and fragrance, so they take it immediately and are completely cured of their sickness. Those who are out of their minds are equally delighted to see their father return and beg him to cure their sickness, but when they are given the medicine, they refuse to take it. Why? Because the poison has penetrated deeply and their minds no longer function as before. So although the medicine is of excellent color and fragrance, they do not perceive it as good.

"The father thinks to himself: My poor children! Because of the poison in them, their minds are completely befuddled. Although they are happy to see me and ask me to cure them, they refuse to take this excellent medicine. I must now resort to some expedient means to induce them to take the medicine. So he says to them: 'You should know that I am now old and worn out, and the time of my death has come. I will leave this good medicine here. You should take it and not worry that it will not cure you.' Having given these instructions, he then goes off to another land where he sends a messenger home to announce, 'Your father is dead.'

"At that time the children, hearing that their father has deserted them and died, are filled with great grief and consternation and think to themselves: If our father were alive he would have pity on us and see that we are protected. But now he has abandoned us and died in some other country far away. We are shelterless orphans with no one to rely on!

"Constantly harboring such feelings of grief, they at last come to their senses and realize that the medicine is in fact excellent in color and fragrance and flavor, and so they take it and are healed of all the effects of the poison. The father, hearing that his children are all cured, immediately returns home and appears to them all once more.

"Good men, what is your opinion? Can anyone say that this skilled physician is guilty of lying?"

"No, World-Honored One."

The eight-year-old daughter of the dragon king Sagara attained Buddhahood

2017-10-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

At that timing their was a bodhisattva who was among the followers of Many Treasures World-Honored One from the lower region and whose name was Wisdom Accumulated. He said to Many Treasures Buddha, "Shall I return to our homeland?"Shakyamuni Buddha said to Wisdom Accumulated, “Good man, wait a little while, there is a bodhisattva named Manjushri, whom you may see. Debate and discuss the Wonderful Law with him, and then you may return to your homeland."

At that time Manjushri was seated on a thousand-pedaled Lotus blossom big as a carriage wheel, and the bodhisattvas who had come with them were also seated on jeweled Lotus blossoms. Manjushri had emerged in a natural manner from the palace to the break in dragon king Sagara inBuddhahood the great Ocean and was suspended in the air. Proceeding to holy Eagle peak, he descended from the Lotus blossom and, having entered the presence of the Buddhas, bowed his head and paid obeisance to the feet of the two World-Honored Ones. When he had concluded these gestures of respect, he went to where Wisdom Accumulated was and exchanged greetings with him, and in retired inset at one side.

Bodhisattva wisdom accumulated question Manjushri, saying, "When you went to the palace of the dragon king, how many living beings did you convert?"

Manjushri replied, "the number it is immeasurable, incapable of calculation. The mouth cannot express it, the mind cannot have fathom it. Wait a minute and there’ll be proof."

Before he had finished speaking, countless bodhisattvas seated on jeweled lotus blossoms emerged from the Ocean proceeded to holy Eagle Peak, where they remained suspended in the air. These bodhisattvas all had been converted and saved by Manjushri. They had carried out all the bodhisattva practices and discussed and expounded the six paramitas with one another. Those who had originally been voice-hearers expounded the practices of the voice-hearer when they were in the air, but now all were practicing the Great Vehicle principle of emptiness.

Manjushri said to Wisdom Accumulated, "The work of teaching and converting carried out that in the Ocean was as you can see."

At that time bodhisattva Wisdom Accumulated recited these verses of praise:

Of great wisdom and virtue, brave and stalwart,
you have converted and saved immeasurable beings.
Now those in this great assembly,
as well as by myself, have all seen them.
Expounded the principle of been true entity,
open up the Law of the single vehicle,
broadly guiding the many beings,
causing them quickly to attain bodhi.

Manjushri said, "When I was in the ocean I constantly expounded the Lotus Sutra of the wonderful Law alone."

Bodhisattva Wisdom Accumulated questioned Manjushri, saying, "This sutra is a profound, subtle and wonderful, a treasure among sutras, a rarity in the world. Are there perhaps any living beings who, by earnestly and diligently practicing this sutra, have been able to attain Buddhahood quickly?"

Manjushri replied, "There is the daughter of the dragon king Sagara, who was just turned eight. Her wisdom has keen roots and she is good at the understanding the root activities and that of living beings. She has mastered the dharanis, has been able to accept and embrace all the store-house of profound secrets preached by the Buddhas, has entered deep into meditation, thoroughly grasping the doctrines and in the space of an instant conceived the desire for bodhi and reached the level of no regression. Her eloquence knows no hindrance, and she thinks of living beings with compassion as though they were her own children. She is fully endowed with blessings, and when it comes to conceiving in mind and expounding by mouth, she is subtle, wonderful, comprehensive and great. Kind, compassionate, benevolent, yielding, she is gentle and refined in will, capable of attaining bodhi."

Bodhisattva Wisdom Accumulated said, "When I observe Shakyamuni Thus Come One, I see that for immeasurable kalpas he carried out harsh and difficult practices, accumulated merit, piling up virtue, seeking the way to the bodhisattva without ever resting. I observe that throughout the thousand-million fold world there is not the single spot tiny as a mustard seed where this bodhisattva failed to sacrifice body and life the sake of living beings. Only after he had done that was he able to complete the bodhi way. I cannot believe that this girl in the space of the instant could actually achieve correct enlightenment."

Before his words had come to one end, the dragon king’s daughter suddenly appeared before the Buddha, bowed her head in obeisance, and then retired to one side, reciting these verses of praise:

He profoundly understands the signs of the guilt and good fortune
and illuminates the ten directions everywhere.
His subtle, wonderful pure there are among Dharma body
is endowed with the thirty-two features;
the eighty characteristics
adorned his Dharma body.
Heavenly and human beings gaze up in awe,
dragons and spirits all pay honor and respect;
among all living beings,
none who do not hold him in reverence.
And having heard his teachings, I have attained bodhi –
the Buddha alone can bear witness to this.
I unfold the doctrines of the Great Vehicle
to rescue living beings from suffering.

At that time Shariputra said to the dragon girl, "You suppose that in this short time you have been able to attain the unsurpassed way. But this is difficult to believe. Why? Because a woman’s body is soiled and defil0ed, not a vessel for the Law. How could you attain the unsurpassed bodhi? The road to Buddhahood is long and far-reaching. Only after one has spent immeasurable kalpas pursuing austerities, accumulating deeds, practicing all kinds of paramitas, one can finally achieve success. Moreover, a woman is subject to the five obstacles. First, she cannot become a Brahma heavenly king. Second, she cannot become the king Shakra. Third, she cannot become a devil king. Fourth, she cannot become a wheel-turning sage king. Fifth, she cannot become a Buddha. How then could a woman like you be able to attain Buddhahood so quickly?"

At that time the dragon girl had a precious jewel duel worth as much as the thousand-millionfold world of which she presented to the Buddha. The Buddha immediately excepted it. The dragon girl said to Bodhisattva Wisdom Accumulated to the venerable one, Shariputra, "I presented the precious jewel and the World-Honored One accepted it – was that not quickly done?"

They replied, "Very quickly!"

The girls said, "employ your supernatural powers and watch me attain Buddhahood. It shall be even quicker than that!"

At that time the members of the assembly all saw the dragon girl in the space of an instant change into a man and carry out all the practices of a bodhisattva, immediately proceeding to the Spotless World of the south, taking a seat on a jeweled lotus, and attaining impartial and correct enlightenment. With the thirty two features and the eighty characteristics, he expounded the wonderful law for all living beings everywhere in the ten directions.

At that time in the saha world to the bodhisattvas, voice-hearers, gods, dragons and others of the eight kinds of guardians, human and non-human beings all from a distance saw the dragon girl become a Buddha and preach the law to all the human and heavenly beings in the assembly at that time. Their hearts were filled with great joy and all from a distance paid reverent obeisance. Immeasurable living beings, hearing the law, understood it and were able to reach the level of no regression. Immeasurable living beings received prophecies that they would gain the away. The Spotless World quaked and trembled in six different ways. Three thousand living beings of the saha world remained on the level of no regression. Three thousand living beings conceived the desire for bodhi and received prophecies of enlightenment. Bodhisattva Wisdom Accumulated, Shariputra and all the other members of the assembly silently believed an accepted these things.

A priceless jewel sewed in the lining of a man’s robe

2017-10-13T01:58:00.000-07:00

Once up a time, a man who went to the house of a close friend and, having become drunk on wine, lay down to sleep. At that time the friend had to go out on official business. He took a priceless jewel, sewed it in the lining of the man’s robe, and left it with him when he went out. The man was asleep drunk and knew nothing about it. When he got up, he set out on a journey to other countries. In order to provide himself with food and clothing he had to search with all his energy and diligence, encountering very great hardship and making do with what little he could come by.

"Later, the close friend happened to meet him by chance. The friend said, ‘How absurd, old fellow! Why should you have to do all this for the sake of food and clothing? In the past I wanted to make certain you would be able to live in ease and satisfy the five desires, and so on such-and-such a day and month and year I took a priceless jewel and sewed it in the lining of your robe. It must still be there now. But you did not know about it, and fretted and wore yourself out trying to provide a living for yourself. What nonsense! Now you must take the jewel and exchange it for goods. Then you can have whatever you wish at all times and never experience poverty or want.’

"The Buddha is like this friend. When he was still a bodhisattva, he taught and converted us, inspiring in us the determination to seek comprehensive wisdom. But in time we forget all that, became unaware, unknowing.

THE PARABLE OF THE PHANTOM CITY

2017-09-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

This is what I heard, at one time, when Buddha was preaching the Lotus Sutra, he said to the believers around him:

"Monks, you must understand this. The Tathāgata in his use of expedient means penetrates deeply into the nature of living beings. He knows how their minds delight in petty doctrines and how deeply they are attached to the five desires. And because they are like this, when he expounds nirvana, he does so in such a way that these persons, hearing it, can readily believe and accept it.
"Let us suppose there is a stretch of bad road five hundred yojanas long, steep and difficult, wild and deserted, with no inhabitants around, a truly fearful place. And suppose there are a number of people who want to pass over this road so they can reach a place where there are rare treasures. They have a leader, of comprehensive wisdom and keen understanding, who is thoroughly acquainted with this steep road, knows the layout of this passes and defiles, and is prepared to guide the group of people and go with them over this difficult terrain.

"The group he is leading, after going part way on the road, become disheartened and say to the leader, "We are utterly exhausted and fearful as well. We cannot go any farther. Since there is still such a long distance ahead, we would like now to turn around and go back.’

"The leader, a man of many expedients, thinks to himself, What a pity that they should abandon the many rare treasures they are seeking and want to turn and go back! Having had this thought, he resorts to the power of expedient means and, when they have gone three hundred yojanas along the steep road, conjures up a city. He says to the group, ‘Don’t be afraid! You must not turn back, for now here is a great city where you can stop, rest, and do just as you please. If you enter this city you will be completely at ease and tranquil. Then later, if you feel you can go on to the place where the treasure is, you can leave the city.’

"At that time the members of the group, being utterly exhausted, are overjoyed in mind, exclaiming over such an unprecedented event, ‘Now we can escape from this dreadful road and find ease and tranquility!’ The people in the group thereupon press forward and enter the city where, feeling that they have been saved from their difficulties, they have a sense of complete ease and tranquility.
"At that time the leader, knowing that the people have become rested and are no longer fearful or weary, wipes out the phantom city and says to the group, ‘You must go now. The place where the treasure is, is close by. That great city of a while ago was a mere phantom that I conjured up so that you could rest.’

"Monks, the Tathāgata is in a similar position. He is now acting as a great leader for you. He knows that the bad road of birth and death and earthly desires is steep, difficult, long and far-stretching, but that it must be traveled, it must be passed over. If living beings hear only of the one Buddha vehicle, then they will not want to see the Buddha, will not want to draw near him, but will immediately think to themselves, The Buddha road is long and far reaching and one must labor diligently and undergo difficulties over a long period before he can ever attain success!

"The Buddha knows that the minds of the living beings are timid, weak and lowly, and so, using the power of expedient means, he preaches two nirvanas in order in order to provide a resting place along the road. If living beings choose to remain in these two stages, then the Tathāgata will say to them, ‘You have not yet understood that is to be done. This stage where you have chosen to remain is close to the Buddha wisdom. But you should observe and ponder further. This nirvana that you have attained is not the true one. It is simply that the Tathāgata, using the power of expedient means, has taken the one Buddha vehicle and, making distinctions, has preached it as three.’

"The Buddha is like that leader who, in order to provide a place to rest, conjured up a great city and then, when he knew that the travelers were already rested, said to them, ‘The place where the treasure is, is nearby. This city is not real. It is merely something I conjured up.’

The Parable of the Prodigal Son, the Lost Son Parable in Buddhism

2017-09-04T08:37:00.001-07:00

"World-Honored One, we would be pleased now to employ a parable to make clear our meaning. Suppose there was a man, still young in years, who abandoned his father, ran away, and lived for a long time in another land, for perhaps ten, twenty, or even fifty years. As he drew older, he found himself increasingly poor and in want. He hurried about in every direction, seeking clothing and food, wandering farther and farther afield until by chance he turned his steps in the direction of his homeland.

"The father meanwhile had been searching for his son without success and had taken up residence in a certain city. The father’s household was very wealthy, with immeasurable riches and treasures. Gold, silver, lapis Lazuli, coral, amber, and crystal beads all filled and overflowed from his storehouses. He had many grooms and menservants, clerks and attendants, and elephants, horses, carriages, oxen, and goats beyond number. He engaged in profitable ventures at home and in all the lands around, and also had dealings with many merchants and traveling vendors.

"At this time the impoverished son wandered from village to village, passing through various lands and towns, till at last he came to the city where his father was residing. The father thought constantly of his son, but though he had been parted from him for over fifty years, he had never told anyone else about the matter. He merely pondered to himself, his heart filled with regret and longing. He pondered to himself, his heart filled with regret and longing. He thought to himself that he was old and decrepit. He had great wealth and possessions, gold silver and rare treasures that filled and overflowed from his storehouses, but he had no son, so that if one hay he should die, the wealth and possessions would be scattered and lost, for there was no one to entrust them to.

"This was the reason he constantly thought so earnestly of his son. And he also had this thought: If I could find my son and entrust my wealth and possessions to him, then I could feel contented and easy in mind and would have no more worries.

"World-Honored One, at that time the impoverished son drifted from one kind of employment to another until he came by chance to his father’s house. He stood by the side of the gate, gazing far off at his father, who was seated on a lion throne, his legs supported by a jeweled footrest, while Brahmans, noblemen, and householders, uniformly deferential, surrounded him. Festoons of pearls worth thousands or tens of thousands adorned his body, and clerks, grooms and menservants holding white fly whisks stood in attendance to left and right. A jeweled canopy covered him, with flowered banners hanging from it, perfumed water had been sprinkled over the ground, heaps of rare flowers were scattered about, and precious objects were ranged here and there, brought out, put away, handed over and received. Such were the many different types of adornments, the emblems of prerogative and marks of distinction.

"When the impoverished son saw how great was his father’s power and authority, he was filled with fear and awe and regretted he had ever come to such a place. Secretly he thought to himself; This must be some king, or one who is equal to a king. This is not the sort of place where I can hire out my labor and gain a living. It would be better to go to some poor village where, if I work hard, I will find a place and can easily earn food and clothing. If I stay here for long, I may be seized and pressed into serve! Having thought in this way, he raced from the spot.

At that time the rich old man, seated on his lion throne, spied his son and recognized him immediately. His heart was filled with great joy and at once he thought: now I have someone to entrust my storehouses of wealth and possessions to! My thoughts have constantly been with this son of mine but I had no way of seeing him. Now suddenly he had appeared of himself, which is exactly what I would have wished. Though I am old and decrepit, I still care what becomes of my belongings.

"Thereupon he dispatched a bystander to go after the son as quickly as possible and bring him back. At that time the messenger raced swiftly after the son and laid hold of him. The impoverished son, alarmed and fearful, cried out in an angry voice, ‘I have done nothing wrong! Why am I being seized?’ But the messenger held on to him more tightly than ever and forcibly dragged him back.

"At that time the son thought to himself, I have committed no crime and yet I am taken prisoner. Surely I am going to be put to death! He was more terrified than ever and sank to the ground, fainting with despair.

"The father, observing this from a distance, spoke to the messenger, saying, ‘I have no need of this man. Don’t force him to come here, but sprinkle cold water on his face so he will regain his senses. Then say nothing more to him!’

"Why did he do that? Because the father knew that his son was of humble outlook an ambition, and that his own rich and eminent position would be difficult for the son to accept. He knew very well that his was his son, but as a form of expedient means he refrained from saying to anyone, ‘this is my son.’

"The messenger said to the son, "I am releasing you now. You may go anywhere you wish.’ The impoverished son was delighted, having gained what he had not had before, and picked himself up from the ground and went off to the poor village in order to look for food and clothing.

"At that time the rich man, hoping to entice his son back again, decided to employ an expedient means and send two men as secret messengers, men who were lean and haggard and had no imposing appearance. ‘Go seek out that poor man and approach him casually. Tell him you know a place where he can earn twice the regular wage. If he agrees to the arrangement, then bring him here and put him to work. If he asks what sort of work he will be put to, say that he will be employed to clear away excrement, and that the two of you will be working with him.’

"The two messengers then set out at once to find the poor man, and when they had done so, spoke to him as they had been instructed. At that time the impoverished son asked for an advance on his wages and then went with the men to help clear away excrement.

When the father saw his son, he pitied and wondered at him. Another day, when he was gazing out the window, he saw his son in the distance, his body thin and haggard, filthy with excrement, dirt, sweat and defilement. The father immediately took off his necklaces, his soft fine garments and his other adornments and put on clothes that were ragged and soiled. He smeared dirt on his body, took in his right hand a utensil for removing excrement, and assuming a gruff manner, spoke to the laborers, saying, ‘Keep at your work! You mustn’t be lazy!’ By employing this expedient means, he was able to approach his son.

"Later he spoke to his son again, saying, ‘Now then, young man! You must keep on at this work and not leave me anymore. I will increase your wages, and whatever you need in the way of utensils, rice, flour, salt, vinegar, and the like you should be in no worry about. I have an old servant I can lend you when you need him. You may set your mind at ease. I will be like a father to you, so have no more worries. Why do I say this? Because I am well along in years, but you are still young and sturdy. When you are at work, you are never deceitful or lazy or speak angry or resentful words. You don’t seem to have any faults of that kind the way my other workers do. From now on, you will be like my own son.’ And the rich man proceeded to select a name and assign it to the man as though he were his child.

"At this time the impoverished son, though he was delighted at such treatment, still thought of himself as a person of humble station who was in the employ of another. Therefore the rich man kept him clearing away excrement or the next twenty years. By the end of this time, the son felt that he was understood and trusted, and he could come and go at ease, but he continued to live in the same place as before.

"World-Honored One, at that time the rich man fell ill and knew he would die before long. He spoke to his impoverished son, saying, "I now have great quantities of gold, silver, and rare treasures that fill and overflow from my storehouses. You are to take complete charge of the amounts I have and of what is to be handed out and gathered in. This was what I have in mind, and I want you to carry out my wishes. Why is this? Because from now on, you and I will not behave as two different persons. So you must keep your wits about you and see that there are no mistakes or losses.’

"At that time the impoverished son, having received these instructions, took over the surveillance of all the goods, and gold, silver and rare treasures, and the various storehouses, but never thought of appropriated for himself so much as the cost of a single meal. He continued to live where he had before, unable to cease thinking of himself as mean and lowly.

"After some time had passed, the farther perceived that his son was bit by bit becoming more self-assured and magnanimous in outlook, that he was determined to accomplish great things and despised his former low opinion of himself. Realizing that his own end was approaching, he ordered his son to arrange a meeting with his relatives and the king of the country, the high ministers, and the noblemen and householders. When they were all gathered together, he proceeded to make this announcement: "Gentlemen, you should know that this is my son, who was born to me. In such-and-such a city he abandoned me and ran away, and for over fifty years he wandered about suffering hardship. His original name is such-and-such, and my name is such-and-such. In the past, when I was still living in my native city, I worried about him and so I set out in search of him. Sometime after, I suddenly chanced to meet up with him. This is the truth my son, and I will in truth am his father. Now everything that belongs to me, all my wealth and possessions, shall belong entirely to this son of mine. Matters of outlay and income that have occurred in the past this son of mine is familiar with."

"World-Honored One, when the impoverished son heard these words of his father, he was filled with great joy, having gained what he never had before, and he thought to himself, I originally had no mind to covet or seek such things. Yet now these stores of treasures have come of their own accord!

"World-Honored One, this old man with his great riches is none other than the Thus Come One, and we are all like the Buddha’s sons. The Thus Come One constantly tells us that we are his sons. But because of the three sufferings, World-Honored One, in the midst of birth and death we undergo burning anxieties, delusions, and ignorance, delighting in and clinging to lesser doctrines. But today the World-Honored One causes us to ponder carefully, to cast aside such doctrines, the filth of frivolous debate.

"We were diligent and exerted ourselves in this matter until we had attained nirvana, which is like one day’s wages. And once we had attained it, our hearts were filled with great joy and we considered that this was enough. At once we said to ourselves, "Because we have been diligent and exerted ourselves with regard to the Buddhist Law, we have gained this breadth and wealth of understanding."

"But the World-Honored One, knowing from past times how our minds cling to unworthy desires and delight in lesser doctrines, pardoned us and let us be, not trying to explain to us by saying, You will come to possess the insight of the Thus Come One, your portion of the store of treasures!’ Instead the World Honored One employed the power of expedient means, preaching to us the wisdom of the Thus Come One in such a way that we might heed the Buddha and attain nirvana, which is only day’s wages. And because we considered this to be a great gain, we had no wish to pursue the Great Vehicle.

The Parable of Goat-carts, Deer-carts and Ox-carts

2017-08-21T21:24:00.001-07:00

At that time Shariputra said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, now I have no mere doubts or regrets. In person I have received from the Buddha this prophecy that I will attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. These twelve hundred persons here whose minds are free--in the past they remained at the level of learning, and the Buddha constantly taught and converted them, saying, ‘My Law can free you from birth, old age, sickness and death and enable you to last to achieve nirvana.’ These persons, some of whom were still learning and some who had completed their learning, each believing that, because he had shed his views of ‘self,’ and also his views of ‘existing’ and ‘not existing,’ he had attained nirvana. But now from the World-Honored One they hear that they had never heard before, and all have fallen into doubt and perplexity.

"Very well, World-Honored One. I beg that for the sake of the four kinds of believers you will explain the causes and conditions and make it possible for them to shed their doubts and regrets."

At that time the Buddha said so Shariputra, "Did I not tell you earlier that when the Buddhas, the World Honored Ones, cite various causes and conditions and use similes, parables, and other expressions, employing expedient means to preach the Law, it is all for the sake of anuttara-samyak-sambodhi? Whatever is preached is for the sake of converting the bodhisattvas.

"Moreover, Shariputra, I too will now make use of similes and parables to further clarify this doctrine. For through similes and parables those who are wise can obtain understanding.

"Shariputra, suppose that in a certain town in a certain country there was a very rich man. He was for along in years and his wealth was beyond measure. He had many fields, houses and menservants. His own house was big and rambling, but it had only one gate. A great many people--a hundred, two hundred, perhaps as many as five hundred--lived in the house. The halls and rooms were old and decaying, the walls crumbling, the pillars rotten at their base, and the beams and rafters crooked and aslant.

"At that time a fire suddenly broke out on all sides, spreading through the rooms of the house. The sons of the rich man, ten, twenty perhaps thirty, were inside the house. When the rich man saw the huge flames leaping up on every side, he was greatly alarmed and fearful and thought to himself, I can escape to safety through the flaming gate, but my sons are inside the burning house enjoying themselves and playing games, unaware, unknowing, without alarm or fear. The fire is closing in on them, suffering and pain threaten them, yet their minds have no sense of loathing or peril and they do not think of trying to escape!

"Shariputra, this rich man thought to himself, I have strength in my body and arms. I can wrap them in a robe or place them on a bench and carry them out of the house. And then again he thought, this house has only one gate, and moreover it is narrow and small. My sons are very young, they have no understanding, and they love their games, being so engrossed in them that they are likely to be burned in the fire. I must explain to them why I am fearful and alarmed. The house is already in flames and I must get them out quickly and not let them be burned up in the fire!

"Having thought in this way, he followed his plan and called to all his sons, saying, ‘You must come out at once!" But though the father was moved by pity ad gave good words of instruction, the sons were absorbed in their games and unwilling to heed them. They had no alarm, no fright, and in the end no mind to leave the house. Moreover, they did not understand what the fire was, what the house was, what the danger was. They merely raced about this way and that in play and looked at their father without heeding him.

"At that time the rich man had this thought: the house is already in flames from this huge fire. If I and my sons do not get out at once, we are certain to be burned. I must now invent some expedient means that will make it possible for the children to escape harm.

"The father understood his sons and knew what various toys and curious objects each child customarily liked and what would delight them. And so he said to them, ‘The kind of playthings you like are rare and hard to find. If you do not take them when you can, you will surely regret it later. For example, things like these goat-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts. They are outside the gate now where you can play with them. So you must come out of this burning house at once. Then whatever ones you want, I will give them all to you!’

"At that time, when the sons heard their father telling them about these rare playthings, because such things were just what they had wanted, each felt emboldened in heart and, pushing and shoving one another, they all came wildly dashing out of the burning house.

"At that time the rich man, seeing that his sons had gotten out safely and all were seated on the open ground at the crossroads and were no longer in danger, was greatly relieved and his mind danced for joy. At that time each of the sons said to his father, "the playthings you promised us earlier, the goat-carts and deer-carts and ox-carts--please give them to us now!’

"Shariputra, at that time the rich man gave to each of his sons a large carriage of uniform size and quality. The carriages were tall and spacious and adorned with numerous jewels. A railing can all around them and bells hung from all four sides. A canopy was stretched over the top, which was also decorated with an assortment of precious jewels. Ropes of jewels twined around, a fringe of flowers hung down, and layers of cushions were spread inside, on which were placed vermillion pillows. Each carriage was drawn by a white ox, pure and clean in hide, handsome in form and of great strength, capable of pulling the carriage smoothly and properly at a pace fast as the wind. In addition, there were many grooms and servants to attend and guard the carriage.

"What was the reason for this? This rich man’s wealth was limitless and he had many kinds of storehouses that were all filled and overflowing. And he thought to himself, ‘There is no end to my possessions. It would not be right if I were to give my sons small carriages of inferior make. These little boys are all my sons and I love them without partiality. I have countless numbers of large carriages adorned with seven kinds of gems. I should be fair-minded and give one to each of my sons. I should not show any discrimination. Why? Because even if I distributed these possessions of mine to every person in the whole country I would still not exhaust them, much less could I do so by giving them to my sons!

"At that time each of the sons mounted his large carriage, gaining something he had never had before, something he had originally never expected. Shariputra, what do you think of this? When this rich man impartially handed out to his sons these big carriages adorned with rare jewels, was he guilty of falsehood or not?"

Shariputra said, "No, World-Honored One. This rich man simply made it possible for his sons to escape the peril of fire and preserve their lives. He did not commit a falsehood. Why do I say this? Because if they were able to preserve their lives, then they had already obtained a plaything of sorts. And how much more so when, through an expedient means, they are rescued from that burning house! World-Honored One, even if the rich man had not given them the tiniest carriage, he would still not be guilty of falsehood. Why? Because this rich man had earlier made up his mind that he would employ an expedient means to cause his sons to escape. Using a device of this kind was no act of falsehood. How much less so, then, when the rich man knew that his wealth was limitless and he intended to enrich and benefit his sons by giving each of them a large carriage."

The Buddha said to Shariputra, "Very good, very good. In is just as you have said. And Shariputra, the Thus Come One is like this. Tat is, he is a father to all the world. His fears, cares and anxieties, ignorance and misunderstanding, have long come to an end, leaving no residue. He has fully succeeded in acquiring measureless insight, power and freedom from fear and gaining great supernatural powers and the power of wisdom. He is endowed with expedient means and the paramita of wisdom, his great pity and great compassion are constant and unflagging; at all times he seeks what is good and will bring benefit to all.

‘He is born into the threefold world, a burning house, rotten and old. In order to save living beings from the fires of birth, old age, sickness and death, care suffering, stupidity, misunderstanding, and the three poisons; to teach and convert them and enable them to attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.
"He sees living beings seared and consumed by birth, old age, sickness and death, care and suffering, sees them undergo many kinds of pain because of their greed and attachment and striving they undergo numerous pains in their present existence, and later they undergo the pain of being reborn in hell or as beasts or hungry spirits. Even if they are reborn in the heavenly realm or the realm of human beings, they undergo the pain of poverty and want, the pain of parting from loved ones, the pain of encountering those they detest--all these many different kinds of pain.

"Yet living beings drowned in the midst of all this, delight and amuse themselves, unaware, unknowing, without alarm or fear. They feel no sense of loathing and make no attempt to escape. In this burning house which is the threefold world, they race about to east and west, and though they encounter great pain, they are not distressed by it.

Shariputra, when the Buddha sees this, then he thinks to himself, I am the father of living beings and I should rescue them from their sufferings and give them the joy of the measureless and boundless Buddha wisdom so that they may find their enjoyment in that.

"Shariputra, the Thus Come One also has this thought: if I should merely employ supernatural powers and the power of wisdom; if I should set aside expedient means and for the sake of living beings should praise the Thus Come One insight, power and freedom from fear, then living beings would not be able to gain salvation. Why? Because these living beings have not yet escaped from birth, old age, sickness, death, care and suffering, but are consumed by flames in the burning house that is the threefold world. How could they be able to understand the Buddha’s wisdom?

"Shariputra, that rich man, though he had strength in his body and arms, did not use it. He merely employed a carefully contrived expedient means and thus was able to rescue his sons from the peril of the burning house, and afterward gave each of them a large carriage adorned with rare jewels. And the Thus Come One does the same. Though he possesses power and freedom from fear, he does not use these. He merely employs wisdom and expedient means to rescue living beings from the burning house of the threefold world, expounding to them the three vehicles, the vehicle of the voice-hearer, that of pratyekabuddha, and that of the Buddha.

"He says to them, ‘You must not be content to stay in this burning house of the threefold world! Do not be greedy for its coarse and shoddy forms, sounds, scents, tastes and sensations! If you become attached to them and learn to love them, you will be burned up! You must come out of this threefold world at once so that you can acquire the three vehicles, the vehicles of the voice-hearer, the pratyekabuddha and the Buddha. I promise you now that you will get them, and that promise will never prove false. You have only to apply yourselves with diligent effort!’

"The Thus Come One employs this expedient means to lure living beings into action. And then he says to them, ‘You should understand that these doctrines of the three vehicles are all praised by the sages. They are free, without entanglements, leaving nothing further to depend upon or seek. Mount these three vehicles, gain roots that are without outflows, gain powers, awareness, the way, meditation, emancipation, samadhis, and then enjoy yourselves. You will gain the delight of immeasurable peace and safety.’

"Shariputra, if there are living beings who are inwardly wise in nature, and who attend the Buddha, the World-Honored One, hear the Law, believe and accept it, and put forth diligent effort, desiring to escape quickly from the threefold world and seeking to attain nirvana, they shall be called [those who ride] the vehicle of the voice hearer. They are like those sons who left the burning house in the hope of acquiring goat-carts.

"If there are living beings who attend the Buddha, the World-Honored One, hear the Law, believe and accept it, and put forth diligent effort, seeking wisdom that comes of itself, taking solitary delight in goodness and tranquility, and profoundly understanding the causes and conditions of all phenomena, they shall be called [those who ride] the vehicle of the pratyekabuddha. They are like the sons who left the burning house in the hope of acquiring deer-carts.

"If there are living beings who attend the Buddha, the World-Honored One, hear the Law, believe and accept it, and put forth diligent effort, seeking comprehensive wisdom, the insight of the Thus Come One, powers and freedom from fear, who pity and comfort countless living beings, bring benefit to heavenly and human beings, and save them all, they shall be called [those who ride] the Great Vehicle. Because the bodhisattvas seek this vehicle, they are called mahasattvas. They are like the sons who left the burning house in the hope of acquiring ox-carts.

"Shariputra, that rich man, seeing that his sons had all gotten out of the burning house safely and were no longer threatened, recalled that his wealth was immeasurable and presented each of his sons with a large carriage. And the Thus Come One does likewise. He is the father of all living beings, through the gateway of the Buddha’s teaching, can escape the pains of the threefold world, the fearful and perilous road, and gain the delights of nirvana, the Thus Come One at that time has this thought: I possess measureless, boundless wisdom, power, fearlessness, the storehouse of the Law of the Buddhas. These living beings are all my sons. I will give the Great Vehicle to all of them equally so that there will not be those who gain extinction by themselves, but that all may do so through the extinction of the Thus Come One.

"To all the living beings who have escaped from the threefold world he then gives the delightful gifts of the meditation, emancipation, and so forth, of the Buddhas. All these are uniform in characteristics, uniform in type, praised by the sages, capable of producing pure, wonderful, supreme delight.

"Shariputra, that rich man first used three types of carriages to entice his sons, but later he gave them just the large carriage adorned with jewels, the safest, most comfortable kind of all. Despite this, that rich man was not guilty of falsehood. The Thus Come One does the same, and he is without falsehood. The Thus Come One does the same, and he is without falsehood. First he preaches the three vehicles to attract and guide living beings, but later he employs just the Great Vehicle to save them. Why? The Thus Come One possesses measureless wisdom, power, freedom from fear, the storehouse of the Law. He is capable of giving to all living beings the Law of the Great Vehicle. But not all of them are capable of receiving it.

"Shariputra, for this reason you should understand that the Buddhas employ the power of expedient means. And because they do so, they make distinctions in the one Buddha vehicle and preach it as three."

Duke Yi of Wei Confers Salaries and Rank on Cranes.

2017-07-07T03:35:00.000-07:00

In the time of Duke Yi of Wei there was a minister named Hung Yin, who received the order to go on a mission to another state. Before his return, the Ti barbarians attacked Wei. Duke Yi wished to raise an army to meet them, but his people with one accord said, "What Your Highness values and what have high salaries and rank are cranes. What you love are your concubines. Go have your cranes and concubines fight. How can we fight?" And they all scattered and fled. The Ti barbarians arrived and attacked Duke Yi at Jung-tsê. They killed him and completely ate the flesh of his body, leaving only his liver.

When Hung Yin got there, he reported on his mission to the liver. When he had finished speaking, he cried out to Heaven and wept. When his mourning was over, he said, "As minister all I may properly do is die." And he then actually cut himself open and, pulling out his intestines, put Duke Yi's liver inside and died.

When Duke Huan heard of this he said, "Wei was destroyed because it had not the proper Way. But with a minister like this, it cannot but be preserved." Whereupon he re-established Wei in Ch’u-ch’iu.
One like Hung Yin can be called a loyal officer. He killed himself so as to follow his prince, and not only did he succeed in following his prince, he also caused the ancestral temple of Wei to be re-established and kept the sacrifices from being broken off. He can be said to have had great merit.

The Ode says,
In other quarters there is ease,
And I dwell here alone and sorrowful.
Everybody is going into retirement,
And I alone dare not seek rest.

卫懿公之时、有臣曰弘演者、受命而使，未反，而狄人攻卫，于是懿公欲兴师迎之，其民皆曰：“君之所贵而有禄位者、鹤也，所爱者、宫人也，亦使鹤与宫人战，余安能战？”遂溃而皆去。狄人至，攻懿公于荧泽，杀之，尽食其肉，独舍其肝。弘演至，报使于肝，辞毕，呼天而号，哀止，曰：“若臣者、独死可耳。”于是，遂自刳出腹实，内懿公之肝，乃死。桓公闻之，曰：“卫之亡也，以无道，今有臣若此，不可不存。”于是复立卫于楚丘。如弘演、可谓忠士矣，杀身以捷其君，非徒捷其君，又令卫之宗庙复立，祭祀不绝，可谓有大功矣。《诗》曰：“四方有羡，我独居忧，民莫不榖，我独不敢休。”

Best to leave the State's sharpest weapons where none can see them.

2017-07-06T03:11:00.000-07:00

Of old the Ssŭ-ch’êng Tzŭ-han was minister to the ruler of Sung. He said to the Prince of Sung, "Now the peace of a state and the governance of its people depend on the conduct of the ruler. Titles and rewards are what people like. May Your Highness take charge of them. Executions and punishments are what the people hate. Let me be responsible for them."
The Prince said, "Agreed. I will get their approval and you will receive their hatred. I am convinced that I will not be the laughing-stock of the feudal lords."
When the people of the state knew that the punishments of death and decapitation were entirely in the hands of Tzŭ-han, the great ministers were friendly with him and the common people feared him. Before the year was out, Tzŭ-han had driven out the Prince of Sung and taken over the government himself. Just as Lao-tzŭ says,
It is best to leave the fish down in his pool;
Best to leave the State's sharpest weapons where none can see them.
The Ode says,
But why does he call us to action,
Without coming and consulting with us?
昔者、司城子罕相宋，谓宋君曰：“夫国家之安危，百姓之治乱，在君之行。夫爵禄赏赐举，人之所好也，君自行之；杀戮刑罚，民之所恶也，臣请当之。”君曰：“善。寡人当其美，子受其恶，寡人自知不为诸侯笑矣。”国人知杀戮之刑专在子罕也，大臣亲之，百姓畏之，居不期年，子罕遂去宋君，而专其政。故《老子》曰：“鱼不可脱于渊，国之利器不可以示人。”《诗》曰：“胡为我作，不即我谋。”

Officers that are ‘altar rats' and functionaries that are ‘bad dogs'

2017-07-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

Tradition has it that Duke Ching of Ch’i asked Yen-tzŭ about the worries of governing a state. Yen-tzŭ replied, "What one worries about are ‘altar rats.' "

Duke Ching said, "What do you mean by altar rats?"

Yen-tzŭ said, "Altar rats steal things outside and then go inside the altar for protection. You would drown them out, but you fear damaging the mud wall. You would burn them out, but you fear setting the wood on fire. This is the worry of rats. Now as to Your Highness' officers, outside they sell you for profit, and inside they depend on Your Highness not to punish them for throwing the laws into disorder. Your Highness moreover both protects and supports them. This is the worry of altar rats."
Duke Ching said, "Alas! How can this be?"

"A man sold wine of very fine quality, and put out a long advertisement, but the wine soured before he had sold any. He asked the villagers why they had not bought his wine, and one of them said, ‘Your dog is very fierce, and every time anyone comes with a container wanting to buy wine, the dog comes out and bites him.' This is why the wine had soured before he had sold any. If, when a gentleman wishes to communicate with the ruler of a state of ten thousand chariots, the functionaries come out and bite him, they too are the bad dogs of a state. Officers that are ‘altar rats' and functionaries that are ‘bad dogs'— these are the great worries of a state."

The Ode says,
Look into the middle of the forest;
There are only large faggots and small branches in it.
It says that those in the court are all mean men.

传曰：齐景公问晏子：“为人何患？”晏子对曰：“患夫社鼠。”景公曰：“何谓社鼠？”晏子曰：“社鼠出窃于外，入托于社，灌之恐坏墙，熏之恐烧木，此鼠之患。今君之左右，出则卖君以要利，入则托君不罪乎乱法，又并覆而育之，此社鼠之患也。”

景公曰：“呜呼！岂其然？”

“人有市酒而甚美者，置表甚长，然至酒酸而不售，问里人其故。里人曰：‘公之狗甚猛，而人有持器而欲往者，狗辄迎而啮之，是以酒酸不售也。’士欲白万乘之主，用事者迎而啮之，亦国之恶狗也。左右者为社鼠，用事者为恶狗，此国之大患也。”

《诗》曰：“瞻彼中林，侯薪侯蒸。”言朝廷皆小人也。

A thousand sheepskins are not worth the fur under one fox's forelegs

2017-07-04T02:49:00.000-07:00

Chao Chien-tzŭ had a minister named Chou Shê, who stood outside his gate for three days and three nights. Chien-tzŭ sent a messenger to ask, "On what business do you wish an interview?"

Chou Shê replied, "I would like to be your outspoken minister. With inked brush and tablet in hand I would follow after Your Highness, looking out for your faults and writing them down, so that each day there will be a record, each month an achievement, and each year good results."

Where Chien-tzŭ stayed, Chou Shê stayed there with him, and when Chien-tzŭ went out, he went out with him. After a little while Chou Shê died, and Chien-tzŭ mourned for him as if he had been his own son. Later he was drinking with the Great Officers in the Hung-po Terrace. When he was drunk on the wine, Chien-tzŭ began to weep, and the Great Officers all went out saying, "We are at fault without knowing ourselves wherein we have offended."

Chien-tzŭ said, "You Great Officers are not at fault. My friend Chou Shê used to say, ‘A thousand sheepskins are not worth the fur under one fox's forelegs, and the servile assent of the multitude is not worth the outspoken works of one gentleman.' Of old Chou of the Shang was lost through silence, while King Wu prospered through frankness on the part of their ministers. Now after Chou Shê's death I never hear of my faults, and it will not be long before I am lost. This is why I wept."

赵简子有臣曰周舍，立于门下，三日三夜，简子使问之，曰：“子欲见寡人何事？”周舍对曰：“愿为谔谔之臣，墨笔操牍，从君之过而，日有记也，月有成也，岁有效也。”简子居、则与之居，出、则与之出。居无几何，而周舍死，简子如丧子。后与诸大夫饮于洪波之台，酒酣，简子涕泣，诸大夫皆出走，曰：“臣有罪而不自知。”简子曰：“大夫皆无罪。昔者、吾有周舍有言曰：‘千羊之皮，不若一狐之腋；众人诺诺，不若一士之谔谔。昔者、商纣默默而亡，武王谔谔而昌。’今自周舍之死，吾未尝闻吾过也，吾亡无日矣，是以寡人泣也。”

Confucius and his disciples were in distress between Ch’ên and Ts’ai.

2017-07-03T02:29:00.000-07:00

Confucius and his disciples were in distress between Ch’ên and Ts’ai. They spent seven days without food sitting on the "Three Classics mat." They had li soup but no rice, and the disciples had a hungry look. They read the Shu and practiced rites (li) and music without stopping. Tzŭ-lu offered an objection: "Heaven rewards with good fortune those who practice good and requites with disaster those who practice evil. Now you, Master, have long accumulated virtue, piled up jên, and practiced good. I suppose there is still some defect in your conduct? Otherwise why do you live in obscurity?"

Confucius said, "Come, Yu. You are a mean man, without any understanding of principles. Be still while I tell you. Do you think that the wise are never punished? Then how was it the Prince Pi-kan had his heart cut out and died? Do you think the just are always hearkened to? Then how was it Wu Tzŭ-hsü had his eyes torn out and hung from the eastern gate of the capital of Wu? Do you think the scrupulous are always employed? Then how was it Po-i and Shu-ch’i starved on Mt. Shou-yang? Do you think the sincere are always employed? Then how was it that Pao Shu was not employed, or that Tzŭ-kao, Duke of Shê, never took office? Pao Chiao embraced a tree and wept; Chieh Tzŭ-t’ui climbed a hill and was burned to death. Many superior men of wide learning and subtle plans have not met with the right time; I am certainly not the only exception.

A man's ability depends on natural endowment; his success or failure is a matter of opportunity. Now without opportunity, what use is there for a man of worth? That Shun of Yü was set up as Son of Heaven from having ploughed a field on the north slope of Mt. Li was due to his meeting Yao. That Fu Yüeh was made a Great Officer from having carried dirt and worked with building frames was due to his meeting Wu-ting. Originally I-yin was a servant in the Hsin family, carrying the tripods, holding the sacrificial stand, and blending the five flavors. That he was set up as minister was due to his meeting T’ang. When Lü Wang was fifty he sold food in Chi-chin, and at seventy he was a butcher in Ch’ao-ko; at ninety he was Teacher to the Son of Heaven—this because he met King Wên. Kuan I-wu was bound and kept with sealed-up eyes in a barred cart. That he became Chung-fu was because he met Duke Huan of Ch’i. Po-li Hsi sold himself for five rams' skins to the Po family of Ch’in and herded cattle. That he was raised to the rank of Great Officer was because he met Duke Mu of Ch’in. That Yü-ch’iu was famous in the empire for yielding his position as Prime Minister to Sun-shu Ao was because he met King Chuang of Ch’u. Wu Tzŭ-hsü at first had considerable merit. Later on he was put to death by decapitation. It was not because his understanding had decreased, but because he first met Ho-lü and later met Fu-ch’ai.

Now that a thoroughbred horse is put to work on the salt carts is not because he has not the appearance of a thoroughbred, but because no one recognizes him as such. If a thoroughbred horse does not get his Po-lo, how can he achieve a thousand-li run, and how could Tsao-fu in his turn manage to drive a thousand-li? If there is no one to see the lan-ch’ih plant growing in a dense forest in the depths of the mountains, it will not be the less fragrant. So the purpose of study is not to achieve success, but to enable one to be in straits and not be distressed, and to keep the determination from failing in times of difficulty. First understand the beginnings of disaster and good fortune, and your mind will be without illusions. For this reason the sages lived in retirement and reflected profoundly; they were unique in their apprehension and insight.

Now Shun was certainly a sage and a saint, but that he faced south and ruled the empire was solely due to his meeting with Yao. If Shun had lived in the times of Chou or Chieh, he would have been well off to escape punishment or execution; there would have been no question of his holding office. Chieh put Kuan Lung-fêng to death, and Chou put the Prince Pi-kan to death. On those occasions did Kuan Lung-fêng lack understanding? Did the Prince Pi-kan lack wisdom? In both cases it was a matter of not meeting with the right time. So the superior man devotes himself to study. He rectifies himself and orders his conduct, waiting for the right time. May you not be confused about this."

The Ode says,

The crane cries in the ninth pool of the marsh,
And her voice is heard in the sky.

孔子困于陈蔡之间，即三经之席，七日不食，藜羹不糁，弟子有饥色，读书习礼乐不休。子路进谏曰：“为善者天报之以福，为不善者天报之以贼。今夫子积德累仁，为善久矣，意者、当遣行乎？奚居之隐也？”孔子曰：“由，来！汝，小人也，未讲于论也。居，吾语汝：子以知者为无罪乎？则王子比干何为刳心而死；子以义者为听乎？则伍子胥何为抉目而悬吴东门；子以廉者为用乎？则伯夷叔齐何为饿于首阳之山；子以忠者为用乎？则鲍叔何为而不用，叶公子高终身不仕，鲍焦抱木而泣，子推登山而燔。故君子博学深谋，不遇时者众矣，岂独丘哉！贤不肖者、材也，遇不遇者、时也，今无有时，贤安所用哉！故虞舜耕于历山之阳，立为天子，其遇尧也；傅说负土而版筑，以为大夫，其遇武丁也；伊尹故有莘氏僮也，负鼎操俎，调五味，而立为相，其遇汤也；吕望行年五十，卖食棘津，年七十，屠于朝歌，九十乃为天子师，则遇文王也；管夷吾束缚自槛车，以为仲父，则遇齐桓公也；百里奚自卖五羊之皮，为秦伯牧牛，举为大夫，则遇秦缪公也；虞丘于天下以为令尹，让于孙叔敖，则遇楚庄王也；伍子胥前功多，后戮死，非知有盛衰也，前遇阖闾，后遇夫差也。夫骥罢盐车，此非无形容也，莫知之也，使骥不得伯乐，安得千里之足，造父亦无千里之手矣。夫兰茞生于茂林之中，深山之间，人莫见之故不芬；夫学者非为通也，为穷而不困，忧而志不衰，先知祸福之始，而心无惑焉，故圣人隐居深念，独闻独见。夫舜亦贤圣矣，南面而治天下，惟其遇尧也，使舜居桀纣之世，能自免于刑戮之中，则为善矣，亦何位之有？桀杀关龙逢，纣杀王子比干，当此之时，岂关龙逢无知，而王子比干不慧哉！此皆不遇时也。故君子务学修身端行而须其时者也，子无惑焉。”《诗》曰：“鹤鸣于九皋，声闻于天。”

To tie up a bunch of grass and ask for a light

2017-03-31T11:53:00.000-07:00

In Ch’i were two retired gentlemen, Master Tung-kuo and Master Liang Shih. At the time when Minister of State Ts’ao was minister of Ch’i, a retainer said to Master K’uei, "Master Tung-kuo and Master Liang Shih are the worthy men of the times. They have secreted themselves in the depths of the mountains and will not bend their bodies or degrade their wills to seek office. I hear that you have access to Minister of State Ts’ao. I wish you might recommend them. Now in my village the matrons are on good terms with one another. A girl was suspected of stealing meat, and her mother-in-law drove her out. Indignant, the girl told a village matron, who said, ‘Go slowly, and presently I will have your mother-in-law call you back,' and tying up a bunch of grass, she went to ask for a light from the family that had driven the girl out. She said, ‘My dogs were fighting over a piece of meat and killed each other. May I have a light so that I can cook them?' Whereupon the mother-in-law immediately sent a man after the girl she had driven out to bring her back. Now a village matron is not a gentleman skilled in speech, nor is tying up a bunch of grass and asking for a light the way to bring a woman back home, but there are things that touch off the proper response and situations which can be properly dealt with. Will you not recommend them?"

Master K’uei said, "I am afraid I can not come up to it, but I will try my best to tie up a bunch of grass and ask for a light on behalf of Master Tung-kuo and Master Liang Shih." After this he had an interview with Minister of State Ts’ao and said, "In my village there was a woman who married again three days after her husband's death. There was another who all her life long never re-married. Now if you were going to marry, which kind of woman would you take for a wife?"

The Minister of State said, "Of course I would marry only the one who to the end of her life would never re-marry."

Master K’uei said, "In Ch’i are the retired gentlemen, Master Tung-kuo and Master Liang Shih. They are the worthy gentlemen of the times, secreting themselves in the depths of the mountains and not bending their bodies or degrading their wills to seek office. If Your Honor in choosing a wife would want to marry one who would not re-marry, are you going to make an exception in choosing a minister by not taking one who will not serve another master?"
Whereupon Minister of State Ts’ao through the good offices of Master K’uei sent a "comfort chariot" with rolls of silk to fetch Master Tung-kuo and Master Liang Shih and treated them as guests of honor. The Ode says,

Let us but see the superior man
And our hearts will be at rest.

齐有隐士东郭先生、梁石君，当曹相国为齐相也。客谓匮生曰：“夫东郭先生梁石君，世之贤也，隐于深山，终不诎身下志以求仕者也。吾闻先生得谒曹相国，愿先生为之先。臣里母相善，妇见疑盗肉，其姑去之，恨而告于里母，里母曰：‘安行，今令姑呼汝。’即束蕴请火，去妇之家，曰：‘吾犬争肉相杀，请火治之。’姑乃直使人追去妇，还之。故里母非谈说之士，束蕴请火，非还妇之道也。然物有所感，事有可适，何不为之先？”匮生曰：“愚恐不及，然请尽力为东郭先生、梁石君束蕴请火。”于是乃见曹相国，曰：“臣之里、有夫死三日而嫁者，有终身不嫁者，则自为娶，将何娶焉？”相国曰：“吾亦娶其终身不嫁者耳。”匮生曰：“齐有隐士东郭先生、梁石君，世之贤士也，隐于深山，终不诎身下志以求仕。相国娶妇，欲娶其不嫁者，取臣独不取其不仕之臣耶？”于是曹相国因匮生束帛安车迎东郭先生、梁石君，厚客之。《诗》曰：“既见君子，我心则降。”

Which is the more important, a father or a ruler?

2017-03-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

King Hsüan of Ch’i said to T’ien Kuo, "I have heard that Confucians mourn three years for their parents, and three years for a ruler. Now which is the more important, a father or a ruler?"
Kuo replied: “A ruler is almost not as important as one’s father.”
King Hsüan became very angry, “Then why do you literati leave your parents to serve a ruler?”
T’ien Kuo replied, "Without a ruler's lands there is no place to settle one's parents; without a ruler's pay there is no means of supporting one's parents; without rank conferred by a ruler there is no way of making one's parents respected and illustrious. What is received from the ruler is passed on to the parents. So serving a ruler is also something always done on behalf of one's parents." King Hsüan was taken aback and had nothing to answer him.
The Ode says,
The king's business is not to be slackly performed,
And I have no leisure to nourish my father.
齐宣王谓田过曰：“吾闻：儒者亲丧三年。君与父孰重？”过对曰：“殆不如父重。”王忿然曰：“曷为士去亲而事君？”对曰：“非君之土地，无以处吾亲；非君之禄，无以养吾亲；非君之爵，无以尊显吾亲；受之于君，致之于亲，凡事君以为亲也。”宣王悒然，无以应之。《诗》曰：“王事靡盬，不遑将父。”

The King of Chao was on the point of sending an envoy to Ch’u

2017-03-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

The King of Chao was on the point of sending an envoy to Ch’u. He played for a while on the cither, and then dispatched him saying, "Be careful not to forget the words of my message."
The envoy received the order kneeling and said without rising, "Never have I heard Your Majesty play such moving music on the cither as today."
The king said, "It is true. The cither is certainly well tuned."
The envoy said, "Since it is in tune, it would be a good thing to make a note of the position of the bridge."
The king said, "It will not do. As the weather is dry or wet, so the strings are loose or tight. The bridge must be adjustable, and cannot be marked for a given position."
The envoy said, "May I borrow a metaphor from this? Ch’u is more than a thousand li distant from Chao. Furthermore fortune is variable. Bad luck calls for condolences, and good luck for congratulation. It is like the bridge of a cither which must be adjustable and cannot be marked for a given position. So when a ruler sends an envoy, he should hold him to the mission he is sent on and not charge him with specific words."
The Ode says,
Many are the messengers,
Ever anxious lest they should not succeed.
It is lamenting that subordinates are controlled from above.
赵王使人于楚，鼓瑟而遣之，曰：“慎无失吾言。”使者受命，伏而不起，曰：“大王鼓瑟，未尝若今日之悲也。”王曰：“调。”使者曰：“调则可记其柱。”王曰：“不可。天有燥湿，弦有缓急，柱有推移，不可记也。”使者曰：“请借此以喻。楚之去赵也，千有馀里，亦有吉凶之变，凶则吊之，吉则贺之，犹柱之有推移，不可记也。故王之使人，必慎其所之，而不任以辞。”《诗》曰：“征夫捷捷，每怀靡及。”盖伤自上而御下也。