This month Sinorama will run the last in its selections from the year long series, "Stories of Filial Piety."
During the Warring States Period, (403-222 B.C.), King Hui Wen of the kingdom of Chao received an exquisite piece of jade known as "ho-shih-pi." News of this event reached the neighboring kingdom of Ch'in. Anxious to possess the jade himself, King Chao of Ch'in proposed an exchange of 15 of his cities for the jade stone. King Hui Wen, while wary of being cheated, feared his powerful neighbor. In order to ensure that the exchange would occur as agreed, King Hui Wen sought out a man of great courage and intelligence, to go to Ch'in and oversee this matter. Lin Hsiang-ju became this go-between.
Upon arriving in Ch'in Lin quickly realized that King Chao had no intention of honoring his end of the agreement. Lin then told the king that before the deal could proceed he must submit himself to a five day purification rite. At the end of the five-day an official exchange ceremony would be held. If the king did not assent to his conditions, Lin would smash the jade, even if it meant risking his own life. During the five day waiting period, Lin had someone remove the jade and returned it to its rightful owner.
Our second story dates from the Three Kingdoms Period (222-265 A.D.). At this time the kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu were constantly vying for power. Each used every opportunity to attack the other.
During the fifth year of the reign of Wei emperor Ming, Szu Ma-i received an imperial decree to direct Chang Ke and lead 300,000 troops in an attack upon Chienmen in the kingdom of Shu.
At the time, Chienmen had a defending force of 100,000 men-- 20,000 of whom were about to retire from active service. Military planners, advised the prime-minister Chu Ko-liang, to order the soldiers to stay on in order to preserve troop strength. Chu however, insisted that the men should retire as promised. He said that in military affairs, trust was of the utmost importance. He added, the soldiers were ready to retire, their families anxiously awaited their return and if their hearts were not in continuing service, they would not be of any real help to the company.
When the soldiers heard of Chu's decision they were deeply moved. So moved, in fact, that they volunteered to stay on duty and fight the enemy forces of Wei. Despite a numerical disadvantage, each soldier fought courageously and the invading armies of Wei were routed.
(Gerald Hatherly)
Stories of Filial Piety（13,14）
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