Quiet Disagreement Archives - understand-culture

A Deer Called a Horse

In the last years of the Qin dynasty, the chancellor Zhao Gao wanted to seize power but feared that the ministers would not follow him. He set a test. He brought a deer to the Second Emperor and said: “It is a horse.” The emperor laughed. “Is the chancellor mistaken? He calls a deer a horse.” He asked the people around him.

“Some of those around him were silent. Some said horse, to please Zhao Gao.” (左右或默，或言马以阿顺赵高) Zhao Gao had those who said deer secretly charged under the law. “After that, all the ministers feared Zhao Gao.” (Records of the Grand Historian) The idiom zhi lu wei ma (指鹿为马), to point at a deer and call it a horse, comes from this story.

Three Kinds of Silence

In 2008, four researchers published a study in Acta Psychologica Sinica (心理学报) on the measurement of employee silence in the Chinese context. They surveyed 928 employees with a questionnaire of their own design. They found that employee silence takes three forms: acquiescent silence, indifferent silence and defensive silence.

Trust in the superior reduced all three. Trust in the organization reduced only the first two. It had no significant effect on defensive silence.

Under the Eaves

When word came that Cao Cao was moving east, Sun Quan discussed it with his officers. All of them urged him to welcome Cao Cao. Lu Su alone said nothing. When Sun Quan rose to change his clothes, Lu Su followed him out under the eaves. Sun Quan took his hand and asked: “What do you want to say?”

Lu Su told him that the others’ advice would ruin him. Lu Su himself could submit to Cao Cao and still keep an official post. Sun Quan could not. “Settle the great plan early, and do not use the advice of the many.” (Records of the Three Kingdoms)

Their first conversation had gone the same way. After the other guests left, Sun Quan called Lu Su back alone. They sat on the same couch, drank, and “discussed in secret.”

Huang Wanli and the Sanmenxia Dam

In 1957, a meeting discussed a dam at Sanmenxia on the Yellow River. According to a 2000 account by the writer Zhao Cheng, “only Huang Wanli firmly opposed building a dam at Sanmenxia.” Most of those present said nothing.

The dam was built. According to the same account, in September 1960, the reservoir began to store water. Silt built up behind it and raised the riverbed at Tongguan by 4.5 meters. From 1965, the dam was rebuilt, with openings cut through it to flush out the silt.

The Vocabulary of Not Saying No

不置可否 To set down neither yes nor no. To give no position at all.

打哈哈 To go “haha.” To brush someone off and deal with a matter only on the surface.

打官腔 To speak in the official tone. To use official set phrases to deal with a request or to pass it on.

搪塞 To plug one hole. From an image in the Huainanzi of a dike with ten thousand holes, of which only one is plugged. To deal with something only for form’s sake.

婉拒 To refuse gently. To decline in a roundabout, polite way.

Gentle Remonstrance

In the Analects, Confucius says: “In serving one’s father and mother, remonstrate gently. If they show that they will not follow the advice, remain respectful and do not oppose them. Work hard and do not complain.” (事父母几谏，见志不从，又敬不违，劳而不怨。)

The Handian dictionary defines 几谏 as “to remonstrate in a tactful, roundabout way.”

Combat Liberalism

On September 7, 1937, Mao Zedong wrote a short text called Combat Liberalism (反对自由主义). It lists the kinds of liberal behavior inside the Party. The second is “irresponsible criticism behind people’s backs, instead of making suggestions to the organization.”

“Saying nothing to people’s faces, but talking wildly behind their backs. Saying nothing at the meeting, but talking wildly after it.” (当面不说，背后乱说；开会不说，会后乱说。)

Slander in the Belly

The Records of the Grand Historian tell the fate of Yan Yi, a minister of agriculture under Emperor Wu of Han. Yan had once told the emperor that a new currency made of white deerskin was a bad idea, and the emperor was displeased. Later, a guest spoke to Yan about the problems with a new order. Yan did not reply, but his lips moved slightly.

The official Zhang Tang charged that Yan, a high minister, had seen that the order was harmful, “did not speak up, but slandered it in his belly” (不入言而腹诽). Yan was sentenced to death. “From then on,” the historian writes, “most ministers and officials flattered and sought to please.”

Indirect Admonition

In a story from the Strategies of the Warring States, Zou Ji asks his wife, his concubine and a guest whether he is more handsome than Lord Xu of the northern city. All say yes. When he sees Lord Xu, he knows they were wrong. His wife favored him, his concubine feared him, and the guest wanted something from him.

Zou Ji then tells King Wei of Qi that the king, surrounded by palace women, ministers and common people, is deceived far more than he is. He urges the king to open the way for criticism. The story is collected in the anthology Guwen Guanzhi as “Zou Ji Admonishes the King of Qi Indirectly to Accept Advice.”

Soft Nails

软钉子 A soft nail. A refusal or criticism made in a gentle, roundabout way.

旁敲侧击 To knock at the side and strike from the flank. To make a point indirectly, without stating it.

指桑骂槐 To point at the mulberry and curse the locust tree. To seem to blame one person while really blaming another.