The Records of the Grand Historian tells of Zhai Gong of Xiagui. When he served as Commandant of Justice, guests crowded his gate. When he lost the post, a net for sparrows could have been set up outside it. When he was appointed again and the guests wanted to return, he wrote on his gate:
“One dies, one lives, and the feeling of friendship is known. One is poor, one is rich, and the manner of friendship is known. One is high, one is low, and friendship shows itself.”
Sima Qian added that the officials Ji An and Zheng Dangshi had the same experience. “With power, they had ten times the guests. Without it, it was not so.”