zhaoyun
06-30-2014, 02:54 AM
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Given China's long history, there are many rich stories from it that provide insight to the human condition or provide lessons for individuals to take note.
One of my favorite episodes is the story of King Goujian from the Kingdom of Yue in the 5th century BC. It is a story about humiliation and revenge.
This was a period before China was a unified nation, instead it was a region of warring states fiercely wrestling each other in constant warfare and statecraft. Two of these nations were the Kingdom of Wu and the Kingdom of Yue. Subsequently in one of the great battles, the King of Wu, Fu Chai captures the King of Yue, Goujian and imprisons him as his personal servant for a number of years. During these years, Goujian was subjected to numerous humiliations yet kept a humble demeanor thus allaying suspicions from his captors. After several years, Goujian was finally allowed to return to govern his kingdom as a tributary.
However, Goujian never forgot his humiliations and plotted daily to eventually take revenge for all of the humiliations he suffered. For the next few years, Goujian continued to live in spartan conditions while ruling his kingdom. Here comes the Chinese saying "卧薪尝胆" "Wo Xin Chang Dan" which means "Sleeping on sticks and tasting bile", where daily for years Goujian tasted the bitterness of bile and slept on sticks to forever remember the humiliations he had to suffer by his arch-rival.
After many years of developing the economic and military power of his state, and assuaging any doubts of loyalty from the Kingdom of Wu by constantly sending streams of tribute and beautiful women to Fu Chai, thus corrupting him in luxury and stealing his hunger for ambition and hardship, Goujian finally decides that the time has come for revenge.
Leading a huge and fearsome army which was notorious for having the front line stocked with "suicide troops", or soldiers who shocked the enemy by decapitating themselves in the front line of war during each battle, Goujian captures the capital of the Kingdom of Wu and forces his arch-rival Fu Chai into suicide. After capturing his enemy's capital, he spares no mercy and kills the entire political cabinet of the Wu Kingdom and the family of his arch-enemy.
Although obviously this is an extreme story, there are important lessons to take. To accomplish great goals, it is important not to fall into a life of corruption and luxury, because that steals away from your focus on achieving your ambitions.
Another important lesson is in how people deal with major setbacks and humiliations in life. Too often, these are painful incidents that people would prefer to forget or move on from. Instead of forgetting these memories, I think it is very important to keep them alive as fuel for your ambitions. Instead of moving on, one should nurture how low and painful these moments were, and make sure you spend your daily energy on building on the day you can triumph upon them. Of course, I'm not saying that you should be plotting to kill your old enemies like in the story, but it is important to use all of your setbacks as a lesson in life, and as a source of motivation for achieving success in the future.
Interestingly, here is a book recently published by an American author about this story.
http://www.amazon.com/Speaking-History-Story-Goujian-Twentieth-Century/dp/0520265831
Given China's long history, there are many rich stories from it that provide insight to the human condition or provide lessons for individuals to take note.
One of my favorite episodes is the story of King Goujian from the Kingdom of Yue in the 5th century BC. It is a story about humiliation and revenge.
This was a period before China was a unified nation, instead it was a region of warring states fiercely wrestling each other in constant warfare and statecraft. Two of these nations were the Kingdom of Wu and the Kingdom of Yue. Subsequently in one of the great battles, the King of Wu, Fu Chai captures the King of Yue, Goujian and imprisons him as his personal servant for a number of years. During these years, Goujian was subjected to numerous humiliations yet kept a humble demeanor thus allaying suspicions from his captors. After several years, Goujian was finally allowed to return to govern his kingdom as a tributary.
However, Goujian never forgot his humiliations and plotted daily to eventually take revenge for all of the humiliations he suffered. For the next few years, Goujian continued to live in spartan conditions while ruling his kingdom. Here comes the Chinese saying "卧薪尝胆" "Wo Xin Chang Dan" which means "Sleeping on sticks and tasting bile", where daily for years Goujian tasted the bitterness of bile and slept on sticks to forever remember the humiliations he had to suffer by his arch-rival.
After many years of developing the economic and military power of his state, and assuaging any doubts of loyalty from the Kingdom of Wu by constantly sending streams of tribute and beautiful women to Fu Chai, thus corrupting him in luxury and stealing his hunger for ambition and hardship, Goujian finally decides that the time has come for revenge.
Leading a huge and fearsome army which was notorious for having the front line stocked with "suicide troops", or soldiers who shocked the enemy by decapitating themselves in the front line of war during each battle, Goujian captures the capital of the Kingdom of Wu and forces his arch-rival Fu Chai into suicide. After capturing his enemy's capital, he spares no mercy and kills the entire political cabinet of the Wu Kingdom and the family of his arch-enemy.
Although obviously this is an extreme story, there are important lessons to take. To accomplish great goals, it is important not to fall into a life of corruption and luxury, because that steals away from your focus on achieving your ambitions.
Another important lesson is in how people deal with major setbacks and humiliations in life. Too often, these are painful incidents that people would prefer to forget or move on from. Instead of forgetting these memories, I think it is very important to keep them alive as fuel for your ambitions. Instead of moving on, one should nurture how low and painful these moments were, and make sure you spend your daily energy on building on the day you can triumph upon them. Of course, I'm not saying that you should be plotting to kill your old enemies like in the story, but it is important to use all of your setbacks as a lesson in life, and as a source of motivation for achieving success in the future.
Interestingly, here is a book recently published by an American author about this story.
http://www.amazon.com/Speaking-History-Story-Goujian-Twentieth-Century/dp/0520265831