Wisdom's Way. Walton C. Lee

the philosopher and his wild theory would be confined to the realm of the scholastic, and not infect the common people.

      But Hwa Shi flatly and arrogantly declined. So the shrewd lord fabricated some serious crimes and promptly ordered his marshals to arrest this philosopher. After a brief show trial, he was condemned to death and executed shortly after. Citizens were shocked. This lord’s high-handed behavior became a public embarrassment. He was immediately summoned back to the imperial palace and brought before the prime minister.

      “How could you slaughter such a famous gentleman without proper justification?” shouted the prime minister. “His followers might cook up a riot.”

      After this reprimand, the lord responded “Your Highness, this person, who inspired people to be egotistic, is too well-known to be alive. With his fallacious and demagogic theories of self-indulgence, he neither wanted to be supervised by our laws nor be confined to any academic jurisdiction. His anarchical philosophy is counter-productive to our strict social system. Without proper supervision, he, with his charisma and a great ambition, could successfully spread those vicious germs of disobedience. First to be charmed would be a handful of unconventional intellects, who intend to have a voice in the world at all costs. Gradually, lower-level and under-educated clerks, grumbling about their meager salary, would follow suit. It would multiply with amazing speed. Then, illiterate farmers and labor hands might turn against us. In the long run, that man and his ideas would be extremely dangerous. If the number of followers grew big enough, they could threaten the tranquillity of our society, and our social system would collapse. Why wait till then and bet our necks on it? I had to snuff this potential crisis and terminate him for the sake of our dynasty.”

      Pondering for a while, the prime minister agreed with Wan and quietly sent him away.

       CHAPTER TWO

       Avoid Future Problems

       The Prophecy Becomes True

       Tang Dynasty618 A.D. to 907 A.D.

      In a traditional society, people often used superstitions to rationalize the unexplained. An ordinary person’s superstition would, at most, affect only a family. However, when an emperor was superstitious, the whole country might suffer dearly. This story took place at the end of the eighth century A.D.

      One day, a man reported to Emperor Tang-Teh,¹ that a famous general, Bai Chi,² who had died over a thousand years ago, had appeared to him in a dream. The general informed this man that barbarians on the western border would soon invade their country.

      The emperor was skeptical about this story, but as a precaution he reinforced that part of the frontier. In less than a month, barbarians actually attacked there, but were immediately repelled thanks to the army’s increased readiness. Amazed, the emperor handsomely rewarded this person and intended to build a temple to commemorate this deceased general. With sincerity and enthusiasm, he discussed this matter with Prime Minister Lee Mee,³ who was surprised by his master’s lack of sophistication.

      Acting seriously and holding back a smile with some difficulty, the prime minister pretended to ponder for a long while, and then spoke.

      “Your Majesty, improving and revitalizing a country depends on the cooperation of people. The enemy was defeated by our competent generals and courageous soldiers. Their gallant behavior needs to be honored. If Your Majesty credits the victory to this legendary general, I’m afraid that the soldiers will feel indignant and ignored. Our servicemen’s morale will be greatly dampened. Furthermore, to build a temple for him, Your Majesty is promoting superstition and ghost-worship. That will eventually destroy the self-confidence and self-reliance of our people, which is the most valuable resource that an emperor could possess. The consequences could be hazardous. By the way, I have heard there is a weather-beaten old shrine on the outskirts of the capital city which honors this general. To pay respects, Your Majesty could quietly send some servants to restore it, which won’t cost much and will not raise people’s suspicion.” The emperor duly accepted this recommendation.

      This prime minister was both farsighted and very sophisticated. Daring not to go directly against his master’s naive idea, he objectively and diplomatically presented his opinions, step by step. He scrupulously upheld his own principles but shrewdly yielded on a few trivial points. For example, if the emperor didn’t pay respects to this dead general at all and his army suffered a great loss in the next military encounter, this prime minister for sure would blamed and even lose his head because of poor advice. Therefore he cleverly advised his master to update a shrine, satisfying the emperor’s simple-minded belief.

      As an old saying goes; “When confronting a problem, it is much more reliable to seek help from one’s self than from gods or ghosts.”

       Deal With The Wicked

       Southern Sung Dynasty1127 A.D. to 1279 A.D.

      In the old days, eunuchs held a very unique position in Chinese society. They were typically undereducated or illiterate, and often came from extremely impoverished areas of the country. By castration, they could work in the political power center—the imperial palace—and had an opportunity to approach, win the trust of, and influence the emperor or his family.

      Unlike the eunuchs, government officials were appointed by passing rigorous national examinations, which required tens of years of study and memorization of classical literature. They were always well-educated, and often looked down on the unlearned, upstart eunuchs. However, when an eunuch became influential enough to easily sway his master’s opinion, which was not unusual in Chinese history, the officials had to flatter the eunuch to get their proposals reviewed by the emperor. It was a delicate and bitter relationship. This incident occurred in the middle of the twelfth century A.D.

      Serving in the royal medical court, a notorious eunuch clandestinely sent many servants down to southern China to purchase well-trained carrier pigeons for his own personal purposes. Nobody knew the reason and all suspected Emperor Sung-Kao’s⁴ involvement. Rumors promptly spread.

      Although this incident was swiftly reported to the palace, the emperor’s reputation was at stake. Out of indignation, a hot-tempered, senior general immediately suggested that the eunuch’s head be chopped off. A variety of other punishments were also proposed. However, a clever official, Chau Din,⁵ advised otherwise.

      “Your Majesty, this affair is not as simple as it seems on the surface. The real intention of this eunuch is less important than the effect of all this gossip and unrest. Our first objective must be to crush these rumors. If we don’t discipline the accused eunuch, people will think, as gossip indicates, that Your Majesty dispatched him on a secret mission. Your Majesty’s reputation will be greatly damaged. On the other hand, since we don’t have any evidence of wrongdoing, we can’t punish him. The best course, in my humble opinion, is to relocate the eunuch far from the capital city and start an investigation. After sifting through the whole situation, if he is innocent, we can receive him again. Otherwise, we can give him a fair punishment without being guided by gossip and innuendo.” Pondering for a moment, the emperor accepted this recommendation and ordered the eunuch to resettle himself at once in a remote province.

      In private, with great puzzlement and resentment, the general complained and questioned the official. “Why spare this rascal? He and his cronies are arrogant and unscrupulous. They deserve total extermination. If I could, I would torture and slaughter every one of those shameless swine.”

      “You don’t understand eunuchs,” the official calmly explained. “We know many of them are corrupt. However, if we behead this eunuch without a fair trail, we would alarm and alert the others. Thinking that we wish to destroy them all, they would unite against us. They might even influence the emperor and, for upholding their own interests, rescue their friend. But by removing him from the palace, the center of endless power struggles, we will please his peers and opponents who eagerly want to succeed him.