Chinese Æsop:

"To the south of Hanyang is the Parrot Islet, which has an interesting story connected with its name. During the epoch known as that of the Three Kingdoms [221265], Ts'ao Ts'ao, a lawless and prominent character of that period, ordered an erratic philosopher named Ti'ao Hen to come to his court. On his arrival, Ts'ao Ts'ao treated him very shabbily, at which he raised his eyes to heaven, saying, ' Heaven and earth are wide; why then are no men to be found? ' Ts'ao replied that he had some teens of warrior chieftains under him, and enumerated several, with commendatory remarks on each one. Ti'ao Hen laughed sneeringly, and said, 'The first may do to condole with folks after a bereavement ; the second might manage to guard a grave ; the third might answer for a doorkeeper ; the fourth, a ballad singer ; the fifth, a beater of drums and gongs ; the sixth, a cowherd ; the seventh is good at litigation ; the eighth might carry letters; the ninth...

The Meat-seller’s Challenge One day Guan Yü arrived at Chu-chou, a dependent sub-prefecture of Peking, in Chihli. There Chang Fei, a butcher, who had been selling his meat all the morning, at noon lowered what remained into a well, placed over the mouth of the well a stone weighing two hundred and twenty-five pounds, and said with a sneer: “If anyone can lift that stone and take my meat, I will make him a present of it!” Guan Yü, going up to the edge of the well, lifted the stone with the same ease as he would a tile, took the meat, and made off. Chang Fei pursued him, and eventually the two came to blows, but no one dared to separate them. Just then Liu Pei, a hawker of straw shoes, arrived, interposed, and put a stop to the fight. By 张天扬 The Oath in the Peach-orchard Liu Pei, surnamed Hsüan Tê, first looked at Guan Yü, nine feet in height, with a beard two feet long. His face was the colour of the fruit of the jujube-tree, and his lips carmine. Eyebrows like sleeping...

Guan Yü, whose name was originally Fêng Xian,  and style name Chang-shêng (live long), afterward changed to Yün-chang, who was born near Chieh Liang, in Ho Tung (now the town of Chieh Chou in Shansi). His father was a blacksmith of Fêmg Family. Guan Yü was of an intractable nature, having exasperated his parents, was shut up in a room from which he escaped by breaking through the window. He ran away to the county town, and there stayed in a tavern. As he has nothing to do there, he took a walk one day, in one of the neighbouring houses he heard a young lady and an old man weeping and lamenting. Running to the foot of the wall of the compound, he inquired the reason of their grief. The old man replied that though his daughter was already engaged, the uncle of the local official, smitten by her beauty, wished to make her his concubine. His petitions to the official had only been rejected with curses. Beside himself with rage, the youth seized a sword and went and killed both th...

On one occasion Kung-ming had sent on a large army that he had collected to fight with the rival general Si-ma Yi who was nearly as able as himself, whilst he followed behind, hoping to reach it before the enemy came into contact with it. He was proceeding leisurely along, when he was suddenly disturbed by a rush of defeated soldiers who were flying in the utmost disorder as though pursued by a successful foe. He found to his dismay that these were his own men, who had been routed and dispersed by the opposing army; and so thoroughly had they been demoralized by their defeat that all the influence and prestige that he possessed had no power to stay their flight, or to induce them to gather round his standard and once more follow him to meet the enemy. The panic indeed was so universal and the fear of the pursuing enemy so great, that he was deserted by every one excepting two of the most devoted of his followers, and with these he retreated to the city of Han-chung that lay some mi...

During the epoch known as that of the Three Kingdoms [221-265], Ts'ao Ts'ao, a lawless and prominent character of that period, ordered an erratic philosopher named Ti'ao Hen to come to his court. On his arrival, Ts'ao Ts'ao treated him very shabbily, at which he raised his eyes to heaven, saying, ' Heaven and earth are wide ; why then are no men to be found ? ' Ts'ao replied that he had some teens of warrior chieftains under him, and enumerated several, with commendatory remarks on each one. Ti'ao Hen laughed sneeringly, and said, 'The first may do to condole with folks after a bereavement ; the second might manage to guard a grave ; the third might answer for a doorkeeper ; the fourth, a ballad singer ; the fifth, a beater of drums and gongs ; the sixth, a cowherd ; the seventh is good at litigation ; the eighth might carry letters; the ninth, sharpen knives and swords ; the tenth can drink wine, lees and all ; the eleventh might make a fair br...