A superior man does not wish to be always showing superiority over others

The king deprived the earl of Zheng of all share in the government of the kingdom, and the earl in consequence no more appeared at court. In autumn the king led several of the princes to invade Zheng, when the earl withstood him.

The king drew up his forces so that he himself was in the centre, while Linfu, duke of Guo, commanded the army of the right, having the troops of Cai and Wei attached to him, and Heijian, duke of Zhou, commanded on the left, having the troops of Chen.

Ziyuan of Zheng asked the earl to draw their troops up in squares, on the left opposed to the armies of Cai and Wei, and on the right to the men of Chen. "Chen," said he, "is at this time all in confusion, and the people have no heart to fight. If we attack them first, they will be sure to run. The king's soldiers seeing this will fall into disorder, and the troops of Cai and Wei will set them the example of flight without making any resistance. Let us then collect our troops and fall upon the king;—in this way we may calculate on success." The earl followed this counsel. Manbo commanded the square on the right; Zhai Zhongzu that on the left; while Yuan Fan and Gao Qumi, with the earl, led the centre, which was drawn up in fish-scale array. There was always a force of 25 chariots, supported by 5 files of 5 men each, to maintain a close and unbroken front. The battle was fought at Xuge. The earl commanded the squares on the right and left to wait till they saw his flag waved, and then to advance with drums beating. The troops of Cai, Wei, and Chen all fled, while the king's were thrown into disorder. The forces of Zheng then united in an attack on the opposite centre. The king received a great defeat, and an arrow shot by Zhu Dan wounded him in the shoulder; but, notwithstanding this, he retreated, still maintaining an able fight. Zhu Dan asked leave to pursue him, but the earl said, "A superior man does not wish to be always showing superiority over others; much less dare he offer insult to the son of Heaven! If we manage to save ourselves, and the altars of Zheng take no damage, we have accomplished very much." At night he sent Zu of Zhai to comfort the king, and to ask after the welfare of his officers.'

Comments

The wonderful pear-tree

Once upon a time a countryman came into the town on market-day, and brought a load of very special pears with him to sell. He set up his barrow in a good corner, and soon had a great crowd round him ; for everyone knew he always sold extra fine pears, though he did also ask an extra high price. Now, while he was crying up his fruit, a poor, old, ragged, hungry-looking priest stopped just in front of the barrow, and very humbly begged him to give him one of the pears. But the countryman, who was very mean and very nasty-tempered, wouldn't hear of giving him any, and as the priest didn't seem inclined to move on, he began calling him all the bad names he could think of. " Good sir," said the priest, " you have got hundreds of pears on your barrow. I only ask you for one. You would never even know you had lost one. Really, you needn't get angry." "Give him a pear that is going bad ; that will make him happy," said one of the crowd. "The o...

The Four Diamond Kings of Heaven

On the right and left sides of the entrance hall of Buddhist temples, two on each side, are the gigantic figures of the four great Diamond Kings of Heaven. They are four brothers named respectively Mo-li Ch’ing (Pure), Mo-li Hung (Vast), Mo-li Hai (Sea), and Mo-li Shou (Age). Mo-li Ch’ing, the eldest, is twenty-four feet in height, with a beard the hairs of which are like copper wire. He carries a magnificent jade ring and a spear, and always fights on foot. He has also a magic sword, ‘Blue Cloud,’ on the blade of which are engraved the four characters: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind. When brandished, it causes a black wind, which produces tens of thousands of spears, which pierce the bodies of men and turn them to dust. The wind is followed by a fire, which fills the air with tens of thousands of golden fiery serpents. A thick smoke also rises out of the ground, which blinds and burns men, none being able to escape. Mo-li Hung carries in his hand an umbrella, called the Umbrella of Chao...

The Legend of The Three-Life Stone

The Buddhist believe metempsychosis, or the migration of the souls of animated beings, people's relationships are predestined through three states of life: the past, present, and future life. Legend has it that there's a road called Yellow Spring Road, which leads to Fogotten River. Over the river there's a bridge called Helpless Bridge (Naihe Bridge), at one end of the bridge sits a crimson stone called Three-life Stone. When two people die, they take this route to reincarnation. if they carve their name on the Three-life Stone together while they pass the stone, they are to be predestined to be together in their future life. Although before their rebirth they will be given a MengPo Soup to drink and thereby their memory of past life are obliterated. In reality, San-Sheng Shi (三生石), or Three-Life Stone is located beside Flying Mountain near the West Lake, Hangzhou. On the stone, there is seal with three Chinese characters that say "The Three-life Stone," and a de...

Chinese Æsop:

Search This Blog