Lieh Yü-khâu had started to go to Khî, but came back when he was half-way to it. He met Po-hwän Wû-zän, who said, 'Why have you come back?' His reply was, 'I was frightened.' 'What frightened you?' 'I went into ten soup-shops to get a meal. and in five of them the soup was set before me before I had paid for it.' 'But what was there in that to frighten you?' Lieh-dze said, 'Vendors of soup supply their commodity simply as a matter of business, and however much they may dispose of, their profit is but little, and their power is but slight; and yet they treated me as I have said:--how much more would the lord of ten thousand chariots do so! His body burdened with the cares of his kingdom, and his knowledge overtasked by its affairs, he would entrust those affairs to me, and exact from me the successful conduct of its government. It was this which frightened me.' Po-hwän Wû-zän replied, 'Admirable perspicacity! But if you carry yourself as you do, men will flock to you for protection.'
Kong Rong (153-208), the 20 th generation descendant of Confucius, was a high official during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han Dynasty. As he was good-tempered and hospitable, his house was always full of guests. He was a noted poet and was one of the “Seven Famous Personages of Jian An.” Kong Rong was once appointed the prefect of Beihai , hence named Kong Beihai . During his tenure of office, Kong Rong constructed cities, built schools, and advocated Confucianism. Kong Rong upheld etiquette , and had made his name heard in his childhood for a "giving up the biggest pear" story. In Kong Rong ’s Family, there were seven brothers in his family and Kong Rong was the sixth son. When he was four years old, he was asked to choose a pear in priority. However, Kong Rong choose a smallest pear, leaving big ones to his elder brothers. Every time the siblings ate pears, his elder brothers always took big ones. He, however, always picked up the small one. When ...
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