China, Motivation, Personal Debt

Moved by Gratitude

In his Memorial on Sending Out the Troops, Zhuge Liang reminded the young emperor how his father, Liu Bei, had found him. “The late emperor did not think me lowly. He lowered himself and visited me three times in my thatched cottage to ask me about the affairs of the age. I was moved to gratitude, and so I promised to serve him.” (由是感激，遂许先帝以驱驰)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHDuXlWvzL8

The memorial goes on: “The late emperor knew that I was careful, so on his deathbed he entrusted me with great matters. Since I received this charge, I have worried and sighed day and night, afraid that I would fail the trust.” The text is taught in the ninth grade in Chinese schools.

The Vocabulary of Being Valued

知遇之恩 The kindness of being recognized. The Handian dictionary defines it as “the kindness of being appreciated and put to important use.”

器重 To value highly. The Handian dictionary explains it as a superior’s high regard for a subordinate because of ability.

栽培 To cultivate, like a plant. In old official life, appreciation and promotion from above. The novel The Scholars has the line: “All his life, the disciple will carry the teacher’s high and deep cultivation.” (门生终身皆顶戴老师高厚栽培)

Unhappy Leave

In 2024, at the China Supermarket Week forum, Yu Donglai, founder of the Henan retailer Pang Donglai, announced ten extra days of bu kaixin jia, unhappy leave. Staff who are unhappy or do not want to come to work can take it. Management may not refuse, and a refusal counts as a violation. The new leave comes on top of 40 days of paid annual leave.

Yu has said that a profitable company should hand out at least about half of its profit. “One cannot put all the money in one’s own pocket. Employees must feel respected and feel hope.”

Money and a Wronged Heart

In 2020, Sina Finance quoted a saying about why employees resign: “Ma Yun once said that employees leave for only two reasons. The money was not enough, and the heart was wronged.” (钱没给够，心委屈了)

The article credits the saying to Jack Ma. No speech or interview in which he said it has been found, so the attribution is unproven.

Regard the Soldiers as Infants

In the Terrain chapter of the Art of War, Sunzi writes: “Regard the soldiers as infants, and they will go with the general into the deepest valleys. Regard them as beloved sons, and they will die with him.” (视卒如婴儿，故可以与之赴深溪。视卒如爱子，故可与之俱死。)

The next lines set a limit. “Kind but unable to use them, loving but unable to command them, disorderly and unable to be controlled, they are like spoiled children. They are of no use.”

Repaid as a Man of the State

Yu Rang served the noble families of Fan and Zhonghang. When Zhi Bo destroyed them, Yu Rang went over to Zhi Bo. Later Zhi Bo was killed by Zhao Xiangzi, and Yu Rang tried again and again to kill Zhao Xiangzi. “A gentleman dies for the one who knows him,” he said. “A woman makes herself beautiful for the one who delights in her.” (士為知己者死，女為說己者容)

Zhao Xiangzi asked why he took such deep revenge for Zhi Bo, when he had done nothing for his first masters. Yu Rang answered: “The Fan and Zhonghang treated me as an ordinary man, so I repaid them as an ordinary man. Zhi Bo treated me as a man of the state, so I repay him as a man of the state.” (Records of the Grand Historian)

The General Who Sucked the Wound

As a general, Wu Qi wore the same clothes and ate the same food as the lowest of his soldiers. When one soldier had an abscess, Wu Qi sucked out the pus himself. The soldier’s mother heard of it and wept. Someone asked her why. Her son was a common soldier, and the general himself had sucked his wound.

“It is not that,” she said. “Years ago, Lord Wu sucked his father’s wound. His father never turned back in battle and died at the hands of the enemy. Now Lord Wu has sucked my son’s wound. I do not know where he will die.” (Records of the Grand Historian)

He Gave Me His Clothes

After a heavy defeat, Xiang Yu sent Wu She to persuade Han Xin, now King of Qi, to turn against Liu Bang and divide the realm three ways. Han Xin refused. “When I served Xiang Yu, my post was no more than a guard holding a halberd. My words were not heard and my plans were not used. So I left Chu and went over to Han.”

“The King of Han gave me the seal of supreme general and tens of thousands of men. He took off his clothes to dress me and pushed his food over to feed me. He listened to my words and used my plans.

That is how I came this far. When a man trusts me so deeply, betraying him would bring bad fortune. I will not change, even in death.” (Records of the Grand Historian)

Throwing the Child

In chapter 42 of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhao Yun fights his way through Cao Cao’s army at Changban and brings back Liu Bei’s infant son, A Dou. He hands the child to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei throws him to the ground. “For this little brat, I nearly lost one of my great generals!” Zhao Yun picks the child up, weeps and bows. “Even if my brains were spilled on the ground, I could not repay this.”

A common two-part saying, a xiehouyu, gives the scene its usual reading. Liu Bei shuai haizi, Liu Bei throws the child, is completed by shoumai renxin, to buy people’s hearts.

Bonuses for the Parents

A 2014 report on the hotpot chain Haidilao described how it looks after its staff. “Every month, the company sends part of the bonus to the parents, back home, of managers and outstanding employees.” The staff dormitories were described as “regular apartments, with air conditioning, heating and internet,” about twenty minutes’ walk from work. The founder Zhang Yong set up a boarding school in Jianyang, Sichuan, for employees’ children.

Since 2005, Haidilao has paid education subsidies to employees’ children. A 2024 report said that its scholarship had gone to 1,443 children of employees over four years, a total of 13.8 million yuan.