By Vibrant Dot Staff
“Dizi Gui” (Standards for Being a Good Student and Child) is a traditional Chinese textbook for children that teaches children morals and proper etiquette.
Dizi Gui states that when we speak, honesty is of foremost importance. Deceitful words and wild lies must never be tolerated.
Success may come and go, but integrity is forever. Great achievements can be destroyed overnight by a single act of dishonesty. The Chinese legend of King You of Zhou, who cried wolf too many times, illustrates how dishonesty can lead to tragic consequences.
A Kingdom Lost for a Concubine’s Smile
During China’s feudal Zhou Dynasty, the ruling king was entitled to supreme power, as well as the service of the lords of the vassal states around the capital city. But if the king abused this power and did as he liked, it would eventually lead to his destruction.
King You of Zhou (周幽王, 795-771 BC) was the twelfth king of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the last of Western Zhou Dynasty. He came to power at the young age of 14, and in his 10-year reign neglected his duties as a ruler. Instead, he spent his time indulging in the luxuries of life and in beautiful women.
King You particularly doted on a concubine called Bao Si (褒姒), who was melancholic by nature and never smiled. After countless failed attempts, the King became doggedly determined to make her smile.
One day, King You brought Bao Si out on an excursion, and they passed by the beacon tower in Lishan.
The King explained to Bao Si about the beacon tower’s function. Because the capital city was frequently attacked by nomadic tribes, a system of beacon towers was set up, to call for reinforcements from the vassal states during an invasion.
The towers were built at fixed distances from one another, on all roads to the capital. Whenever the capital was threatened by invaders, the Lishan beacon tower would be lit, to emit thick smoke in the day and fire by night. The adjacent towers would follow suit, transmitting the call for help down to the vassal states.
Bao Si expressed disbelief that a smoking tower could call in troops from thousands of miles away. So without a second thought, King You instructed his soldiers to light the tower, just to please Bao Si.
The call of war was thus ignited at each beacon tower. Upon seeing the smoke, the noble lords immediately assembled their troops and rushed to the foot of Lishan.
But upon arriving, they learned it was a false alarm and that they had been fooled by the King. Nevertheless, they didn’t dare to lose their temper, and silently led their troops away.
When Bao Si saw how awkward the lords looked after being fooled, she couldn’t help but smile as she thought it was very funny. King You, on the other hand, was beside himself with happiness and excitement, as he had finally made his beloved concubine smile.
Buoyed by his success, King You repeated the act again, and the noble lords again arrived with their reinforcements. When they got there, they found the King and Bao Si chuckling with delight at having fooled the lords so easily once more. Again, the lords went back seething with anger.
Not long after, King You decided to make Bao Si the new queen, and her son his heir. He thus deposed the incumbent Queen Shen and the crown prince, and even considered taking the vassal state of Queen Shen’s father, Lord Shen. Enraged by the King’s actions, Lord Shen immediately launched a pre-emptive strike against the capital city.
King You again urgently called for his noble lords using the previously abused beacon towers, but none of them came, believing that the King was fooling around with them again.
In the end, King You was killed at the foot of Lishan and Bao Si was captured. The Western Zhou dynasty was thus destroyed for a concubine’s smile.
This story, which is very similar to Aesop’s fable “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”, has been used to teach the importance of integrity, and the result of dishonesty.
