Deal With The Wicked
Southern Sung Dynasty1127 A.D. to 1279 A.D.
In the old days, eunuchs held a very unique position in Chinese society. They were typically undereducated or illiterate, and often came from extremely impoverished areas of the country. By castration, they could work in the political power center—the imperial palace—and had an opportunity to approach, win the trust of, and influence the emperor or his family.
Unlike the eunuchs, government officials were appointed by passing rigorous national examinations, which required tens of years of study and memorization of classical literature. They were always well-educated, and often looked down on the unlearned, upstart eunuchs. However, when an eunuch became influential enough to easily sway his master’s opinion, which was not unusual in Chinese history, the officials had to flatter the eunuch to get their proposals reviewed by the emperor. It was a delicate and bitter relationship. This incident occurred in the middle of the twelfth century A.D.
Serving in the royal medical court, a notorious eunuch clandestinely sent many servants down to southern China to purchase well-trained carrier pigeons for his own personal purposes. Nobody knew the reason and all suspected Emperor Sung-Kao’s4 involvement. Rumors promptly spread.
Although this incident was swiftly reported to the palace, the emperor’s reputation was at stake. Out of indignation, a hot-tempered, senior general immediately suggested that the eunuch’s head be chopped off. A variety of other punishments were also proposed. However, a clever official, Chau Din,5 advised otherwise.
“Your Majesty, this affair is not as simple as it seems on the surface. The real intention of this eunuch is less important than the effect of all this gossip and unrest. Our first objective must be to crush these rumors. If we don’t discipline the accused eunuch, people will think, as gossip indicates, that Your Majesty dispatched him on a secret mission. Your Majesty’s reputation will be greatly damaged. On the other hand, since we don’t have any evidence of wrongdoing, we can’t punish him. The best course, in my humble opinion, is to relocate the eunuch far from the capital city and start an investigation. After sifting through the whole situation, if he is innocent, we can receive him again. Otherwise, we can give him a fair punishment without being guided by gossip and innuendo.” Pondering for a moment, the emperor accepted this recommendation and ordered the eunuch to resettle himself at once in a remote province.
In private, with great puzzlement and resentment, the general complained and questioned the official. “Why spare this rascal? He and his cronies are arrogant and unscrupulous. They deserve total extermination. If I could, I would torture and slaughter every one of those shameless swine.”
“You don’t understand eunuchs,” the official calmly explained. “We know many of them are corrupt. However, if we behead this eunuch without a fair trail, we would alarm and alert the others. Thinking that we wish to destroy them all, they would unite against us. They might even influence the emperor and, for upholding their own interests, rescue their friend. But by removing him from the palace, the center of endless power struggles, we will please his peers and opponents who eagerly want to succeed him. If we wait, the absence of that eunuch will cause the others to brutally compete against one another. With the accused eunuch out of favor, he will be alienated by the others. None of them will re-admit him to their circles. We can sit back and enjoy watching these eunuchs weaken themselves as they jockey for position. After the whole investigation is over, even if it proves that the eunuch is innocent, on returning to the palace he will, to his distress, find out that his influence has been greatly reduced, if not totally destroyed by his rivals and peers.” Laughing and applauding, the general shouted with joy and praised this official for his insight.
Divide and create contradictions among your opponents. You can sit back and watch as they compete with one another. Their internal dispute will eventually lead to their destruction.
Local Maps
Northern Sung Dynasty960 A.D. to 1127 A.D.
We should encourage friendship and do our best to assist our friends. However, when too much cordiality might harm national security, we must draw a line. This episode happened in the middle of the eleventh century A.D. In that period, transportation was human legs or horseback. Printing was in its primitive stage. Maps were hand-drawn and primarily used for military purposes.
A team of Korean diplomats, on an annual visit, came to China’s capital city to present gifts to the emperor. Passing through cities and towns, they courteously requested the local mayors or regional commanders to supply them with territorial maps. They claimed that they could study those maps for sightseeing along their route. As a gesture of good will, this solicitation, which had never been made before, was promptly granted.
Before approaching a mid-sized southern city, these diplomats sent the same request by messenger.
“I don’t have one on hand. And, to tell you the truth, I don’t even know how to prepare one,” said Chern Shen-Jee,6 a commander in the city. Feigning embarrassment, he suggested to the messenger “If you can let me see the other maps, I will be more than delighted to imitate them and draw one with similar details for you.” The messenger returned and reported this to his masters. A few days later, the messenger came back with the maps that had been collected.
Accepting the maps, the commander immediately ordered his guards to burn them all, regardless of the astonished messenger’s violent protest. The messenger was expelled from the city after a solid reprimand. This incident was abruptly reported to the central government. The commander was highly praised for his alertness and others, for their heedlessness, were punished according to the laws.
As an old Chinese expression says: If you hold your sword or spear at the wrong end, another person can easily grasp the handle and threaten your life with it. Giving maps to assist the foreigners on their trips, those local officials foolishly exposed the locations of mountains, rivers, harbors and other strategically important facts, which would have given potential invaders a military advantage.
With a Sense of Discreteness
Northern Sung Dynasty960 A.D. to 1127 A.D.
Most people dream of a tranquil and wealthy life. However, a far-sighted man will feel uneasy about that tranquillity and wealth. Why? Allow me to present this case. In the eleventh century A.D. China was frequently disturbed by neighboring barbarians. One night while working late, the vice prime minister Wong Dan,7 who didn’t even have time to eat his dinner, sighed and murmured “Alas! The heavy load of work is killing me. Sooner or later I will die of exhaustion. When will our country enjoy peace again?”
“Oh, you are not joking, are you?” interrupted the prime minister Lee Hang8 with a profound smile. “You should consider yourself lucky. Constant but manageable trouble is actually a good thing for a person as well as a country. With a few problems on our shoulders, we keep alert all the time. If the country eventually becomes peaceful, it will only develop hidden crises, which will be much more difficult to deal with in the future. After I retire, you probably will assume my position. At that time, our current skirmishes will most likely be over. Our country will be strong and prosperous. Our young Majesty will be spoiled by absolute power and carefree prosperity. Please, be aware of that.”
Though disagreeing with his superior, the fatigued vice prime minister dared not to argue, and merely responded with a courteous nod. The farsighted prime minister often deliberately presented all the current disasters, such as floods, fire, drought, or mutiny, to the emperor, who was frightened and dumbfounded.
“Your
