Play harp before a cow

Once up on a time, there lived a musician named GongMing Yi. He was very good at playing the Zheng, a plucked string instrument. But he also behaved foolishly sometimes.

One day, he saw a cow eating grass in the field near his house. He was inspired by the scene and ran outside to play a tune for the cow. Gong Mingyi played beautifully and he himself was intoxicated by the music. But the cow paid no heed to the elegant sounds. It simply focused its attention on eating the grass. Gong Mingyi was surprised to see that. He couldn’t understand why the cow was so indifferent to his performance. Obviously, it is not because his performance is poor. But the cow neither understood nor appreciated his elegant music!

From that story comes the idiom “Play the lute to a cow”, which implies that someone speaks or writes without considering his audience. In general speaking, the speaker or writer has over-estimated his listeners or readers. In these cases, the idiom mocks the audience rather than the speaker.

Point to the Deer and Make it a Horse

In the reign of Emperor the Second of the Qin Dynasty (Qin Er Shi, 221-207 B.C.), the prime minister Zhao Gao, was very afraid of officials plotting against him, he arranged for a way to discover those that were against him.

One day, before Qin Er Shi and the gathered officivals, Zhao Gao reported that he had acquired a fine horse and wished to give it to the emperor. Qin Er Shi, pleased with this offer, ordered the horse to be brought it. A servant brought in a deer.

Qin Er Shi laughed heartedly and said to Zhao Gao, “Why Prime Minister, that is no horse, it’s a deer!”

Zhao Gao lowered his head and replied: “Your Highness, even your dragon eyes must sometimes be at fault. Why, this is plainly a horse!”

The second emperor thought that Zhao Gao meant this to be a joke and said to the assembled officials: “Very well! The Prime Minister says that it is a horse, and I say that it is a deer. Will the officials offer their opinions on whether this animal is a horse or a deer?”

This question struck the officials dumb. This animal was of course a deer, but saying that it was a deer would go against Zhao Gao’s wishes, but then again, saying that it was a horse would be lying to the emperor. Seeing this hesitation, Zhao Gao became enraged and spoke angrily to the assembled officials.

“Let the assembled officials see, those four sturdy legs, the proportion of its body, long ears and short tail, if this isn’t a horse, then what is it?”

Some of the officials hurriedly went forth and told Qin Er Shi that the animal was indeed a horse. Others stuttered out that it was certainly not a deer. Still others did not say anything at all. The second emperor, upon hearing these comments, actually believed that he was indeed staring at a horse, and his eyes must have been at fault the first time. Zhao Gao arrogantly left the court and it is no surprise then, that a few days later, he had the officials that had said nothing arrested and executed on made up charges.

The Origin of the Zhou Dynasty

The ancestor of Zhou dynasty’s royal family was Hou Ji). Hou Ji’s mother’s nameds Jiang Yuan of the tribe of You Tai Shi. She was the primary wife of King Ku who was one of the five emperors of the Chinese myth.

One day, Jiang Yuan went to the wilderness, she saw a giant's foot print. She stepped on it and was “moved” and became pregnant. When she gave birth to Hou Ji, he was born still covered with some sort of membrane and looked like an egg. His family thought he was unlucky, and they abandoned him on the street, but the horses and cows avoided stepping on him. His family removed him to the forest. However, there were woodcutters in the forest. They threw him onto ice. The birds gathered and covered him with their wings. Jiang Yuan thought there must be gods protecting him, so she took him back. Because she had abandoned him at first, she called him Qi.

Since Hou Ji’s childhood, he liked to plant things and he was very good at it. People learned from him and improved their farming techniques. When King Yao learned about it, he appointed Hou Ji as the Minister of the Husbandry to teach people farming matters. Later, King Shun appointed him the fiefdom of Tai which was probably the land of his mother’s, and gave him the title “Hou Ji” (the Chieftain of Farmers). He became the ancestor of Zhou dynasty.

In the Classic of Odes (Shijing), there is an ode detailing the origin of the Zhou, dating from approximately the 8th century BCE.

The first birth of [our] people ,
Was from Jiang Yuan .
How did she give birth to [our] people ?
She had presented a pure offering and sacrificed ,
That her childlessness might be taken away .
She then trod on a toe-print made by God , and was moved ,
In the large place where she rested .
She became pregnant ; she dwelt retired ;
She gave birth to , and nourished [a son] ,
Who was Hou-ji .

When she had fulfilled her months ,
Her first-born son [came forth] like a lamb .
There was no bursting , nor rending ,
No injury , no hurt ; --
Showing how wonderful he would be .
Did not God give her the comfort ?
Had He not accepted her pure offering and sacrifice ,
So that thus easily she brought forth her son ?

He was placed in a narrow lane ,
But the sheep and oxen protected him with loving care .
He was placed in a wide forest ,
Where he was met with by the wood-cutters .
He was placed on the cold ice ,
And a bird screened and supported him with its wings .
When the bird went away ,
Hou-ji began to wail .
His cry was long and loud ,
So that his voice filled the whole way .

When he was able to crawl ,
He looked majestic and intelligent .
When he was able to feed himself ,
He fell to planting large beans .
The beans grew luxuriantly ;
His rows of paddy shot up beautifully ;
His hemp and wheat grew strong and close ;
His gourds yielded abundantly .

The husbandry of Hou-ji ,
Proceeded on the plan of helping [the growth] .
Having cleared away the thick grass ,
He sowed the ground with the yellow cereals .
He managed the living grain , till it was ready to burst ;
Then he used it as seed , and it sprang up ;
It grew and came into ear ;
It became strong and good ;
It hung down , every grain complete ; --
And thus he was appointed lord of Tai .

He gave his people the beautiful grains : --
The black millet , and the double-kernelled ;
The tall red , and the white .
They planted extensively the black and the double-kernelled ,
Which were reaped and stacked on the ground .
They planted extensively the tall red and the white ,
Which were carried on their shoulders and backs ,
Home for the sacrifices which he founded .

And how as to our sacrifices [to him] ?
Some hull [the grain] ; some take it from the mortar ;
Some sift it ; some tread it .
It is rattling in the dishes ;
It is distilled , and the steam floats about .
We consult ; we observe the rites of purification ;
We take southernwood and offer it with the fat ;
We sacrifice a ram to the Spirit of the path ;
We offer roast flesh and broiled : --
And thus introduce the coming year .

We load the stands with the offerings ,
The stands both of wood and of earthenware .
As soon as the fragrance ascends ,
God , well pleased , smells the sweet savour .
Fragrant is it , and in its due season !
Hou-ji founded the sacrifice ,
And no one , we presume , has given occasion for blame or regret in regret to it ,
Down to the present day .