King Zhuang of Chu loved a horse and dressed it in embroidered silk. When it died of overfeeding, he wanted to bury it with the rites of a high official. He decreed: “Anyone who remonstrates about the horse will die.” The court entertainer You Meng went in and wept aloud. An official’s burial was too mean, he said. The horse should be buried as a ruler, in a coffin of carved jade.
“Then the lords will all know that Your Majesty despises people and values horses.” The king asked: “Is my fault as great as this?” You Meng proposed burying the horse as livestock, in human stomachs. The king sent it to the palace kitchen. The Records of the Grand Historian say that You Meng “often remonstrated through jokes” (常以谈笑讽谏).