Chinese Æsop:

You know the Chinese proverb, “It is on road that determines the strength of the horse.' Well, let me tell you a tale of two good friends. Let us call the friends Leu Yao [long road] and Ma Lih [horse strength]. The words Leu and Ma happen to be surnames, you know. Leu Yao was a young man of considerable means. Ma Lih went in for gambling, and was often in difficulties, from which his generous friend helped him out several times. He at length followed his friend's advice, and reformed, passed his examinations, and became a mandarin. Leu Yao, however, had bad luck, lost all his relatives except his mother, and was so reduced in means that he had to live in a mat hut. Hearing of his friend's good fortune, he determined to go and visit him, a journey of some hundreds of li. He left all the cash he had with his mother, and begged his way to his friend's yamun. Ma Lih received him heartily, but took no notice of his tale of sorrow, merely bidding him to eat, drink, and ...

This proverb originates from the story of Qin Hui, who was regarded till today as the most treacherous court minister of the Song dynasty. Qin Hui was born with a peculiarity: his feet measured one foot four inches from heel to toe. he was therefore nicknamed the Long-Foot Scholar when he was a student in the Royal Academy. Qin Hui had been teacher in a private school, he was very unsatisfied by his humble and mean position, and wrote a poem, one couplet of it was: If I had three hundred Acres of irrigated lands, I wouldn't have to be the Monkey king. Here the monkeys were referred to mischievous boys in the private school, he himself was the king of those monkeys. Later he passed the imperial examinations and rose quickly to the post of Prime Minister. By the time, the Song dynasty was under continuous attack by the northern tribe Jurchen [Jin]. Qin Hui initiated Peace negotiation with Jurchens, and made the Southern Song dynasty cede territory and subjugate itself to them....

A jealous woman is said "to drink vinegar", and the origin of the term is as follows:--Fang Hsuan-ling (房玄龄) was the favourite Minister of the Emperor T'ai Tsung(唐太宗), of the T'ang dynasty. He lived A.D. 578-648. One day his master gave him a maid of honour from the palace as second wife, but the first or real wife made the place too hot for the poor girl to live in. Fang complained to the Emperor, who gave him a bowl of poison, telling him to offer his troublesome wife the choice between death and peaceable behaviour for the future. The lady instantly chose the former, and drank up the bowl of "vinegar", which the Emperor had substituted to try her constancy. Subsequently, on his Majesty's recommendation, Fang sent the young lady back to resume her duties as tire-woman to the Empress. But the phrase lived, and has survived to this day.

ZI Xia, a disciple of Confucius, was going to his post as a county magistrate in the state of Lu. Before his departure, he came to Confucius and asked him how the affairs of the government should be run.  Confucius knew that the trouble with Zi Xia was that he tended to focus his attention only on the immediate interests and was impetuous. He therefore said to him, "Whatever you do, do it step by step instead of pursuing mere speed. Don't focus your attention only on the immediate interests. The more haste, the less speed. Attention to minor and immediate interests prevent one from accomplishing great things."

A man from the state of Chu was crossing a river. In the boat, his sword fell into the water. Immediately he made a mark on the boat. The boat man was very curious and asked the swordsman. "This is where my sword fell off," he said. When the boat stopped moving, he went into the water to look for his sword at the place where he had marked the boat. The boat had moved but the sword had not. Is this not a very foolish way to look for a sword?

During the Spring and Autumn Period(770－476BC), there were two famous senior officials in the State of Yue. The King of the Yue named Gou Jian didn't accept the advice of Fan Li and blindly launched an attack against the neighboring State of Wu. As a result, he suffered disastrous defeat and was caught by the King of Wu. The King of Wu took him back and had him as a slave. Fan Li persuaded him to endure humiliation, pretend to surrender and wait for an opportunity to avenge. Later, Wen Zhong went to the State of Wu on diplomatic missions and helped Gou Jian gain the confidence. Years later, Gou was set free. With the help of Fan and Wen, the State of Yue rapidly rehabilitated and later annexed the Wu. As they had done so much contribution, both Fan and Wen was awarded great riches. Gou Jian even offered half of the state to Fan. But Fan rejected and decided to live in seclusion for knowing Gou too well. As a hermit, Fan wrote to his friend Wen. In his letter, Fan said,...

During the time of the Warring States (475-221 BC), there lived a well-known archer named Geng Ying whose art in shooting was excelled by none at his time.One day, as he was standing by the side of the King of Wei, a flock of swan were flying over. With confidence, Geng Ying said to the king, "The twang of my bow-string might bring down a bird." The King doubted much. Just then a solitary swan goose appeared, low and slow in its flight, sad and dolorous in its cry. Instantly Geng Ying bended his bow and forcibly pulled the bowstring. Twang! High up went the shrilling sound into the air and down fell the bird to the ground. The king admired with bewilderment. Gang Ying then explained: "The bird was flying low and slowly, because it was already hurt; it was crying in a bitter tone, because it had lost its companions. Due to the fact that it was already hurt and sad at heart, the twang of my strong bow, that birds dreaded most, startled it. The shrilling sound made its hear...