Chinese Æsop:

In the second year of King P'ing (527 B.C.), Fei Wu-chi was sent to go to Ch'in to accept a bride for Chien, the Heir. The girl was becoming. When she had set out for Ch'u, but before she had arrived, Wu-chi returned and advised King P'ing, saying, "The girl from Ch'in is becoming. Your Majesty can marry her yourself, and seek another bride for the Heir." King P'ing listened to him and in the end married the girl from Ch'in himself, and married another woman to the Heir. At this time Wu She was the Grand Mentor of the Heir, Wu-chi was the Lesser Mentor. Wu-chi was not favored by the heir, and he often spoke ill of Ch'ien, the Heir. Chien at this time was fifteen years old. His mother was a woman from Ts'ai and was not favoured by the king. The King gradually became more and more estranged from Chien. In the sixth year (523 B.C.), Chien, the heir, was sent to reside at Cheng-fu to guard the border. Wu-chi again day and night slandered Ch...

Chang K'ien (张骞) was a native of Han-chung in the south of Shen-si province ; during the period of K'ien-yuan [140-134 BCE] he was a lang, which was a titular officer of the imperial household; a yeoman. At that time the Son of Heaven made inquiries among those Hsiung-nu who had surrendered as prisoners and they all reported that the Hsiung-nu had overcome the king of the Yue-chi and made a drinking-vessel out of his skull. The Yue-chi had decamped and were hiding somewhere, all the time scheming how to take revenge on the Hsiung-nu, but had no ally to join them in striking a blow. The Chinese, wishing to declare war on and wipe out the Hsiung nu, upon hearing this report, desired to communicate with the Yue-chi; but, the road having to pass through the territory of the Hsiung-nu, the Emperor sought out men whom he could send. Chang K'ien, being a lang, responded to the call and enlisted in a mission to the Yue-chi; he took with him one Kan Fu, a Tartar, formerly a slave ...