China Archives - Page 69 of 112 - understand-culture

Lord Zhu of Tao

After helping the King of Yue take revenge on Wu, Fan Li left by boat, changed his name and settled in Tao. He chose it because it lay at the center of the world, where the roads of all the states met and goods were traded.

The Records of the Grand Historian says: “In nineteen years he earned a thousand gold three times, and twice he gave it away to poor friends and distant kin. This is what is called being rich and delighting in virtue.” For this reason, “all who speak of wealth name Lord Zhu of Tao.”

Zigong and the Huizhou Merchants

Confucius’s disciple Zigong traded between Cao and Lu and became the richest of the seventy disciples. The Records of the Grand Historian says that he traveled with teams of horses and gifts of silk, and that rulers received him as an equal. Sima Qian wrote that it was Zigong’s support, before and after, that spread Confucius’s name through the world.

The merchants of Huizhou prized 贾而好儒, “trading and loving Confucian learning.” A 2021 article in the Study Times gives their creed: 诚信为本、以义取利, “honesty as the root, profit through righteousness.”

Sanlu

In 2008, infant formula from the Sanlu Group was found to contain melamine. China’s Ministry of Health reported nearly 296,000 children with urinary problems, six of whom died.

According to the account in Chinese Wikipedia, Sanlu’s own tests had found melamine in 15 of 16 batches that summer. On August 1, chairwoman Tian Wenhua ordered the matter covered up. City officials blocked a public recall until after the Beijing Olympics. In January 2009, Tian was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Chasing Han Xin

Han Xin joined Liu Bang’s army but held only a minor post. He talked often with the chancellor Xiao He, who thought him remarkable. At Nanzheng, dozens of officers deserted, and Han Xin left too. Xiao He rode after him without telling Liu Bang. Back in camp, he told the angry king: “Generals are easy to find. As for Han Xin, he is guoshi wushuang, without equal in the realm.”

Liu Bang offered to make Han Xin a general. Xiao He said that would not keep him. Liu Bang agreed to make him grand general, with an altar and a ceremony on a chosen day. “The generals were all pleased, each thinking he would be grand general. When the appointment came, it was Han Xin, and the whole army was astonished.” (Records of the Grand Historian)

The Letter to Han of Jingzhou

In a letter to Han Chaozong of Jingzhou, the poet Li Bai quoted a saying of the scholars of his day: sheng bu yong feng wanhu hou, dan yuan yi shi Han Jingzhou. “In life, there is no need to be made a lord of ten thousand households. One only wishes to know Han of Jingzhou.”

People’s Daily dates the letter to 734, when Li Bai was 34 and living in Anlu. He asked Han to recommend him for office. The letter brought him neither a post nor a meeting.

Old Friend of the Chinese People

On July 20, 2023, Xi Jinping received Henry Kissinger in Beijing. “You have visited China more than a hundred times,” he said.

After Kissinger’s death in November 2023, the Foreign Ministry called him “an old friend and good friend of the Chinese people, a pioneer and builder of China-US relations.” People’s Daily quoted the same formula. The Foreign Ministry added: “The Chinese people value feeling and loyalty. We will not forget old friends.”

The Head as a Pledge

In the Water Margin, Lin Chong comes to Liangshan to join the outlaws. Zhu Gui explains the rule to him: “Whenever a hero joins, he must hand in a toumingzhuang. He goes down the mountain, kills a man and presents the head. Then there is no suspicion of him. This is called a toumingzhuang.” The leader Wang Lun gives Lin Chong three days to bring one.

Sayings on Familiarity

一回生，二回熟 Strangers the first time, acquaintances the second. The Handian dictionary explains: at the first meeting people feel like strangers, at the next meeting they know each other. Its example comes from Zhou Libo’s novel The Hurricane: “We were strangers the first time, and now we know each other. Be sure to drop in.”

多个朋友多条路 One more friend, one more road.

Letters of Introduction

In the early 1980s, a traveler needed a jieshaoxin, a letter of introduction from a public body, to stay at a guesthouse. Without one, a person could not get a room and might even be detained as a mangliu, a drifter, and sent home. From the 1990s on, people gradually stopped needing such letters to check in.