Persuasion Archives - Page 6 of 7

Yanzi at the Small Gate

When Yanzi of Qi went as an envoy to Chu, the people of Chu made a small door for him beside the great gate, because he was short. Yanzi would not enter. “Those sent to a country of dogs go in by the dogs’ gate. I have been sent to Chu, so I should not go in by this gate.” He was led in through the main gate.

On another visit, the King of Chu planned to humiliate him. During a banquet, officers brought in a bound man and said he was from Qi and had stolen. The king asked Yanzi: “Do the people of Qi steal by nature?”

Yanzi answered that an orange grown south of the Huai River is an orange, but grown north of it becomes a bitter orange. People of Qi do not steal at home. “Could it be that the soil and water of Chu make people good at stealing?” The king laughed: “A sage is not a man to joke with. I have brought the shame on myself.”

Talking War on Paper

Zhao Kuo, son of the Zhao general Zhao She, studied the art of war from his youth and believed that no one could match him. When he discussed war with his father, Zhao She could not refute him, but he would not call him good. “War is a place of death,” he told his wife, “and Kuo speaks of it lightly.” If Zhao ever made Kuo a general, he said, Kuo would destroy its army.

When the king gave Kuo the command against Qin, his mother wrote to the king that he must not lead. At Changping in 260 BC, Qin troops shot Kuo dead, and his surrendered army was buried alive. Sima Qian put Zhao’s total losses at 450,000. Because of her warning, the king spared his mother.

The idiom zhi shang tan bing, talking war on paper, comes from this story. Dictionaries define it as empty talk about theory that has nothing to do with reality.

The Oil Seller

In a short piece by the Song writer Ouyang Xiu, the archer Chen Yaozi has no equal in his time and is proud of it. An old oil seller watches him hit eight or nine shots in ten and only nods slightly. “Do you know archery? Is my shooting not fine?” Chen asks. The old man answers: “Nothing special. Only a practiced hand.”

Chen is angry. The old man sets a gourd on the ground, covers its mouth with a coin and pours oil through the hole in the coin without wetting it. “I too have nothing special,” he says. “Only a practiced hand.” Chen laughs and sends him away.

The Oil Seller is in the Chinese textbook for the second half of seventh grade.

An Awl in a Bag

Lord Pingyuan of Zhao was choosing twenty retainers for a mission to Chu when Mao Sui offered himself. The lord asked how long he had served. Three years, said Mao Sui. “A capable man in the world is like an awl in a bag,” the lord replied. “Its tip shows at once.” In three years, no one had praised Mao Sui, so the lord concluded that he had nothing.

“Then today I ask to be put in the bag,” Mao Sui answered. “Had I been put in it earlier, the whole awl would have slipped out, not only the tip.” The other nineteen exchanged mocking looks. In Chu, they all gave way to him in debate. (Records of the Grand Historian)

The idiom Mao Sui zi jian, Mao Sui recommends himself, means to volunteer oneself. The lord’s first question had been how long he had served.

Listen to the Words, Watch the Deeds

When his disciple Zai Yu slept during the day, Confucius said: “At first, with people, I listened to their words and trusted their deeds. Now, with people, I listen to their words and watch their deeds. It was Zai Yu who made me change.” (Analects 5.10)

He also said: “The gentleman wishes to be slow in speech and quick in action.” (Analects 4.24)

Seven Times Captured, Seven Times Released

When Zhuge Liang set out to subdue the south, Ma Su advised him: “In war, attacking the heart is best, attacking cities is worst. Fighting with hearts is best, fighting with soldiers is worst.” The south, he warned, would rebel again as soon as the army left.

Zhuge Liang captured the local leader Meng Huo, showed him his camp and let him fight again. “Seven times released, seven times captured,” and still Zhuge Liang let him go. Meng Huo would not leave. “You have the might of heaven. The people of the south will not rebel again.” Zhuge Liang left the local chiefs in charge. As long as he lived, the south did not rebel.

Declining With a Song

A short passage in the Analects tells how a man named Ru Bei wanted to see Confucius. Confucius declined, saying that he was ill. As the messenger was going out of the door, Confucius took up his zither and sang, “so that Ru Bei would hear it” (使之闻之).

The Vocabulary of Hints

言外之意 The meaning outside the words. A meaning that is implied but not stated clearly.

弦外之音 The sound beyond the strings. Originally the lingering sound of music. Today a meaning that comes through indirectly in what is said.

心照不宣 Hearts reflect each other, nothing is declared. Both sides understand, and there is no need to say it.

拐弯抹角 To turn bends and go around corners. To speak without coming straight to the point.

The Vocabulary of Light Words

人微言轻 The person is low, so the words are light. What a person of low position says is not taken seriously. Su Shi used the phrase in a letter: “I have reported this matter three times and have had no reply. The person is low and the words are light, so it is only natural.”

插嘴 To insert a mouth. To speak before another person has finished.

打官腔 To strike the official tone. To answer with official set phrases in order to put someone off.

Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage

In 207, the warlord Liu Bei went to Longzhong to visit the scholar Zhuge Liang. The Records of the Three Kingdoms says: “He went three times in all, and only then did he see him.” (凡三往，乃见) The first two visits failed.

At the third meeting, Zhuge Liang set out the plan for Liu Bei’s future that became known as the Longzhong Plan. Years later, in his Memorial on Sending Out the Troops, Zhuge Liang recalled that the late ruler had “visited me three times in my thatched cottage.”