Chinese Traditional Story: Zi Han Took Not Greedy as a Treasure

Hello everyone, the story I'm going to share today is Zhe Han took not greedy as a treasure. Zhe Han was a virtuous minister of the state of Song during the spring and autumn period. He was loyal to his duties and never stained by corruption, and was a model of honest officials He served as the chancellor of constructions from 575 BC to 532 BC, and was one of the six ministers of the state of Song. Among the sons of nobles of Song state, he was obviously a man of great ability and was thus highly valued by the king. Some of his touching deeds have been praised by later generations. In 558 BC, a man in the state of Song obtained a piece of rare jade. To express his admiration and praise for Zhe Han's noble character, he decided to give it to him. So he rushed to the capital with high hopes, but Zhe Han insisted on not accepting it, thinking that Zhe Han suspected that the jade was a fake. The jade donor said confidently, I have had a priest by jade expert, and it is a rare and beautiful jade. Zhe Han smiled and said, I'm treasured for my ungrateful character, and you are treasured by your beautiful jade. If I accept the jade, we both lose what is most precious to us. The man knelt down and kowtowed to Zhe Han and said, I don't feel comfortable carrying this valuable jade with me, I would rather give it to you. If I no longer have it, I will avoid being robbed and murdered. Finally, Zhe Han accepted the jade, and he took it to the jade expert to have it carved. Then he sold it. After that, he gave all the money back to the man. The carving was so valuable that the man instantly became a millionaire. After Zhe Han was in high position, he loved his people very much and was always concerned about their lives. In the 29th year of Duxiang There was a famine in the state of Jiang, and people were in great distress. Zipi, who served as a minister, distributed food to the hungry people, so that the state of Jiang didn't suffer from hunger because of the famine. At that time, the famine soon spread to the Song state, and Zhe Han, following the example of Zipi, and petitioned to the Duke Ping of Song to take out the public grain and let it to the people, ordering the royal family and officials to lend out the grain. At the same time, Zhe Han gave out all his family grain to the people unconditionally, and the people of Song were able to survive from the famine. On another occasion, when Zhe Han was receiving an envoy from Chu state in his own residence, the envoy witnessed an unbelievable thing. Surprised, he asked, why is the wall in the south side of your courtyard curved? And why does the stagnant water in the neighbor's courtyard on the west side flow into your courtyard? Zhe Han explained plainly, my neighbors to the south of my house have been making selling shoes for generations, so if we drop them away, people who buy shoes won't be able to find them, and worse yet, the family's source of livelihood may be interrupted. The neighbor's house to the west is on higher ground than my house, and it's only natural for water to flow downhill, and I'm afraid that if I block the flow of water, it will have an impact on my neighbors. After hearing this, the Chu envoy returned to the Chu state and advised the king of Chu, Song cannot be attacked. The lord of Song is wise, and the minister is kind. A wise man can win the people's heart, and a benevolent man loves people and people follow him. If Chu attacked it, it would not be successful and would be laughed at by the whole world. Upon hearing this, the king of Chu gave up his plan to attack Song. When Confucius heard this, he praised Zhe Han by saying, Zhe Han was not only honest and loyal in the imperial court, but was able to defeat enemies by a thousand miles. Zhe Han's story reminds us of the people in power in the world today. In some countries, there are no officials without corruptions. I sincerely hope that all of us should learn the higher moral characters of the ancient people. If more people in the world act as Zhe Han in the story, I believe that there will not be more natural disasters, and even there are disasters, Khan people will escape from it. Thank you very much for listening to the story. More touching stories will be ready for you if you just subscribe it. Thank you again.