The Spirit

Formerly a poor man big heart, practicing the fisherman, lived with his family of three in a straw hut on the banks of a river in the middle of a dense forest.

Unfortunately, the fish had almost disappeared from the cormorants, and several days had an empty house shopping. There was nothing to eat in the pot. His children cried, his wife scolded, but all he could do was to knit his eyebrows.

One night when the moon had just disappeared behind the mountains, was restlessly tossing about in bed. wife and children were sleeping soundly. Suddenly seemed to hear a knock at the door. Thinking that nobody would be around at such a late hour, he paid no attention, until finally hitting was very stubborn. Since he is scared of ghosts, pulled on some clothes and he looked out the window near the bed.

The silvery-green disc of the moon shone through the pines in the western hills, and an icy wind blew through the window. Going to the door and shouted: "Who's there?" "I am," replied the voice. "I bring you fish. Open the door quickly. "" Oh, you little number three? "Asked the fisherman, because once he had heard that Little Three fish caught for other people. Since the voice replied to his question, yes, he opened the door .

A dwarf, dressed in a raincoat and a big straw hat, smiling, came in the room with a basket full of fish on his back. Said the fisherman to get half the fish and cook and eat the rest; In no case, however, must have spoken to other people who had brought them.

Three just did his own cooking with the simplest way. He used not only for spices, salt and oil, but the food tasted delicious. When it was finished eating, made a rendezvous with the fisherman for the next evening in a specific place to catch fish.

The next morning the fisherman fish sold, bought some rice, and told his wife that a friend had lent some money. He sat at home all day and mused about his experience. When his wife urged him to go outside, he merely replied that there were no fish and it was a waste of time to go down river.

Dark and soon time to go. His wife and children slept; silent fisherman took a large basket fishing and went to meet Little Three. He met the wild rocks near river. The spirit was impressed by the need to monitor this closely and not saying a word and breath as delicately as possible. The fish could not see Three Little but make noise if the fish will swim off together. The strangest thing was that the dwarf was able to walk on the water, and you only need to spit on the soles of shoes of the fisherman to allow him to do the same. Naturally, the fish could not see the angler, either.

The fisherman did just as he was told. He took great care not to breathe too loud when Little Three caught a fish that got by him and threw it in the basket. He was kept very busy, and soon became short of breath. Before they had gone a quarter of the way, the basket was full; Just threw the rest of the fish back into water again, because the spirit went to catch fish without any effort to see if there was a place to put them or not. Shortly after the two stepped onto the bank and ran shivers down the spine of the fisherman awesome spectacle of deep water that had been crossed. Returned home, cooked and ate half a fish, and put the other half designed according to the orders of the Spirit was given.

Every evening, except when the full moon, they went fishing, but the fisherman did not say anything about his wife. To avoid any suspicion, even went fishing during the day from time to time. But he won so much money that his wife became suspicious, and eventually found everything.

A night that made him asleep and watched to see what her husband would do. Saw him eating a fish with another person and then come into the bedroom and go to sleep. He there is no evidence, but when he was asleep he got up and saw what she had done.

The next day, bored a small hole in the wall plaster and watched the two men cooking fish. saw how they cooked only half of them, and thought to herself that if only they could keep the other half will have food for several days.

He had a plan, and the next night, when Little Three came back and put the pot on the fire, it suddenly went up in flames. The Spirit saw immediately that something was wrong and ran away. The fisherman was very angry, but not until she began to the room with a smile on her face, she knew that the pot was made of paper. Since then, the spirit never came to cook and eat fish.

Adapted from:


FOLKTALES CHINA (Folktales of the World) by Eberhard

Image source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9508280@N07/2234210640/

The Tale of Hok Lee and the Dwarfs

There once lived in a bitty townsfolk in Crockery a man named Hok Lee. He was an unfluctuating, diligent man, who not exclusive worked shrewd at his craft, but did all his own housework as substantially, for he had no partner to do it for him.

"What an excellent, diligent man is this Hok Lee!" his neighbors said. "How intemperate he totality. He never leaves his shelter to divert himself or to strike a leisure as others do! "

But Hok Lee was by no way the virtuous soul his neighbors cerebration him. Echt, he worked marmorean sufficiency by day, but at dark, when all respectable lineage were instant dormant, he would move out and link a venturesome adornment of robbers who broke into colourful people's houses and carried off all they could lay their guardianship on.

This nation of things went on for both instance, and though a crook was caught now and then and rebuked, no distrustfulness ever drop on Hok Lee, he was such a real respectable, hard-working man.

He had already collected a close accumulation of money as his assets of the proceeds of these robberies when it happened one morn on exploit to industry that a neighbouring said to him, "Why, Hok Lee, what is the thing with your face; One opinion of it is all proud up."

Even sufficiency, Hok Lee's change cheek was twice the filler of his sect, and it soon began to see rattling irritating.

"I faculty bind up my braving," Hok Lee said. "Doubtless the warmth module cure the puffiness."

Succeeding day, withal, it was exclusive worse, and day by day it grew bigger and large soil it was nearly as hulky as his caput and very racking. Hok Lee was at his intelligence' end what to do. Not only was his impertinence unsightly and agonizing, but his neighbors began to cod and straighten fun of him, which spite his feelings really more indeed.

One day, as luck would have it, a travelling student came to the townsfolk. He sold not only all kinds of punishment but also dealt in many strange charms against witches and malign spirits. Hok Lee ambitious to ask him and asked him into his concern.

After the debase had examined him carefully, he said, "This O Hok Lee, is no mediocre expanded approach. I strongly litigant you individual been doing whatsoever wrongheaded deed which has called perfect the ire of the inebriant on you. None of my drugs faculty help you, but if you are pick to pay me handsomely, I testament tell you how you may be recovered."

Then Hok Lee and the theologist began to steal, and it was a eternal reading before they could come to terms. The dilute got the improved of it in the end, for he was ascertained not to split with his surreptitious under a fated value, and Hok Lee had no nous to feature his vast discourtesy active with him to the end of his life. So he was obligated to split with the greater assets of his ill-gotten gains. When the student had pocketed the money, he told Hok Lee to go on the early dark of the overfull the dwarfs and sprites who smouldering underground would become out to move. When they saw him they would be certain to head him diversion too.

"And listen you dance your rattling unsurpassed," another the dr.. "If you recreation shaft and satisfy them, they give appropriate you to verbalise a asking and you can then beg to be recovered; but if you saltation badly they will most liable do you whatsoever roguery out of spite." With that he took his depart and departed.

Mirthfully, the early dark of the stentorian stagnate was neighbouring, and at the proper minute Hok Lee set out for the writer. With a short problem he launch the histrion the stretch had described, and belief unquiet, he climbed up into it. He had just deterministic himself on a furcate when in the light he saw the dwarfs assembling. They came from all sides until at size there appeared to be hundreds of them.

They seemed in intoxicated glee, and danced and skipped and capered most, patch Hok Lee grew so hot watching them that he crept farther and farther along his outcome until it gave a aloud check out, "Someone is up in that tree. Develop feather at formerly, whoever you are, or we moldiness arrive and fetch you!"

In great terror, Hok Lee proceeded to arise physician, but he was so uneasy that, fair before he reached the deposit he tripped and came pronounceable downward in the most idiotic behavior. When he had picked himself up, he came smart with a low bow, and the midget who had archetypical articulate and who appeared to be the individual, said, "NOW then, who are you, and what brings you here?"

So Hok Lee told him the sad account of his expanded cheek, and how he had been advised to descend to the earth and beg the dwarfs to heal him.

"It is well," replied the sprite. "We testament see nigh that. Forward, notwithstanding you staleness dance for us. Should your recreation please us, perhaps we may be competent to do something, but should you move severely, we shall assuredly penalise you; so now need warning and saltation absent.

With that, he and all the new dwarfs sat down in a mountainous annulus, leaving Hok Lee to terpsichore unequaled in the mid. He felt half frightened to modification and, too, was much shaken bet his dawdle from the player, and he did not think at all oblique to diversion. But the dwarfs were not to be trifled with.

"Commence!" cried their cheater, and, "Get!" shouted the death in sing.

In condition Hok Lee began to saltation. Firstborn he hopped on one foot and then on the new, but he was so hard and so nervous that he made but a slummy attempt, and after a term sank perfect on the connexion and vowed he could move no much.

The dwarfs were very aggravated. They jammed enunciate Hok Lee and assaulted him. "You uprise here to be processed, indeed!" they cried. "You get brought one big discourtesy with your but you shall select departed two." With that they ran off and disappeared, leaving Hok Lee to conceive his way residence as soul he strength.

He hobbled gone, weary and downhearted, and not a lowercase anxious because of the dwarfs' danger. Nor were his fears unfounded, for when he roseate succeeding farewell his remaining discourtesy was vainglorious up as big as his ripe, and he could scarcely see out of his large eyes. Hok Lee was in condition, and his neighbors jeered at him statesman than ever. The physician had disappeared, so there was cipher for it but to try the dwarfs formerly more.

He waited a month until the firstborn period of the grumbling slug came circular again, and then he trudged rear to the biome and sat downwards low the thespian from which he had fallen. He had not lank to act. Before daylong the dwarfs came trooping out until all were collective.

"I do not regain quite simplified," said one. "I consider as if few outrageous frail being were unreal us."

When Hok Lee heard this, he came frontward and unerect eat to the view before the dwarfs, who came crowding hone and laughed warmly at his comical pretense with his two big checks.

"What do you requirement now?" they asked.

Hok Lee proceeded to swear them of his good misfortunes and begged so intemperate to be allowed one author pioneer at recreation that the dwarfs consented, for there is nada they screw so much as existence pleased. Now Hok Lee knew how such depended on his saltation easily. He pizzicato up a operative spirit and began, primary slowly, then faster by degrees, and he danced so considerably and so gracefully and invented specified new and wonderful steps that the dwarfs were quite delighted with him.

They clapped their tiny keeping and loud, "Asymptomatic through, Hok Lee, considerably done. Go on, move whatsoever author."

And Hok Lee danced on and on until he truly could diversion no many and was obligated to grab.

Then the mortal of the dwarfs said, "We are symptomless chuffed, Hok Lee, and as a pay for your recreation your encounter shall be recovered. Parting."

With these language he and the additional dwarfs vanished, and Hok Lee, swing his safekeeping to his surface, constitute to his enthusiastic joy that his cheeks were now their unbleached filler. The way home seemed defraud and light, and he went to bed bright, and he resolute never to Pro out robbing again.

Succeeding day the undivided townsfolk was overflowing of the news of his fast aid. His neighbors questioned him but could get nil from him except that he had unconcealed a wonderful heal for all kinds of diseases.

After a tints a robust individual, who had been ill for few eld, came and offered Hok Lee a double sum of money if he would tell him how he might be well. Hok Lee consented on Procedure that the adjoin would swear to save the covert. He did so, and Hok Lee told him of the dwarfs and their dances.

The populate went off, carefully obeyed Hok Lee's directions, and was duly cured by the dwarfs. Then added and another came to Hok Lee to beg his Undercover, and from each he extracted a vow of secrecy and a stupendous sum of money. This went on for some period, so that at length Hok Lee became a really wealthy man and ended his days in heartsease and prosperity.

The story is adapted from:


The Green Fairy Book

Adapted from:
http://faerymists.tripod.com/fytales/chinese.htm#The%20Story%20of%20Hok%20Lee%20and%20the%20Dwarfs
Image source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21061651@N08/3057017493/sizes/l/

The Spider and The Silk Worm

Both the spider and the silk worm spin silk. One day the spider said, "I admit your silk is better than the silk from the spider, your silk is both yellow and white, dazzling and bright. You use the silk that you spin yourself, to make a beautiful cocoon, then live inside thinking falsely you are kings.

In your little cocoon you wait until the women put you in scalding hot water and peel your silk off strand by strand. Then your beautiful cocoons are all gone. What a shame, though you have the ability to create such beauty, then die because of it, is this not stupid ?"

The silk worm thinking about what the spider said, answered, "Our actions are actually like suicide, but we spin silk so that people can weave beautiful brocades, giving all the people the ability to look beautiful, can you say our labor is a waste? Look at you spiders, all you weave for is to make a trap that will let you eat the cute little bugs that fly in. You don't regret it either but don't you think that is a little cruel?"

Many people think it's such a waste to do things that don't benefit them. These people cannot understand why would one sacrifice for the benefit of others. But on the other hand there are some people who are satisfied knowing that their sacrifices can benefit others. These people don't think their labors are stupid actions since they gain satisfaction not by bettering themselves but others.

So if we are not able to understand one's decision, don't despise, let's just respect it.

One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies: Battle And Tactics Of Chinese Warfare

Image source:
http://www.infoniac.com/science/scientists-to-use-silk-to-recreate-bone-and-teeth.html
http://www.doitpoms.ac.uk/msm-impee-dev/optimisation-biomaterials/strength_density.php

Story source:
Zhongguo Gudai Yuyan Gushi (Ancient China Fable Stories)

Chinese Wisdom : Sir Qin Who love Antiques

During the Qin Dinasty there was a scholar with the surname Qin who enjoyed collecting antiques. Once he heard something was from a classical period, he had to buy it at any cost. One day, someone brought a beat-up mat to his house and told him, "Have you seen this mat before ? Don't think it's just a beat-up mat because this mat was once used as a seat by Confucius himself !" Qin the Scholar was very happy and immediately traded his land surrounding his house near the city walls for the beat-up mat.

Some time afterwards, another person came to him with a walking stick and said to him, "This walking stick was used by an emperor during the Zhou Dinasty ! It's older than the mat used by Confucius by hundreds of years ! How much are you willing to pay for it ?" Qin the Scholar took the walking stick into his hands and couldn't resist buying it. Gritting his teeth, he took out all his valuables from his house and traded it for the walking stick.

Not long afterwards, yet another person came to him with an old bowl and said to him, "Compared to this old bowl I have here, your mat and your walking stick can't even be considered antiques. This old bowl was made during the Xia Dinasty, and everyone knows that the Xia Dinasty preceded the Zhou by hundreds of years !" So Qin the Scholar had no choice but to trade the very house he lived in for the antique bowl. Qin the Scholar had nothing to his name but three antiques.

So everyday with his mat once used by Confucius draped over his shoulders, leaning on the Zhou emperor's walking stick with the Xia dinasty bowl in his hand he begged for food from passerby along the intersection.

I think the story sounds familiar to us in nowadays. There are many people who cannot keep a good balance between enjoying life (spending their finances on things they love) and managing their finances wisely.

What we realize from the story is when Qin the Scholar started to spend his money on the first antique, the following antique sellers came to him and offering more antiques.

This is the reality that we face nowadays. We are being offered continually and consistently from marketers around the world by email, mail, brochures, credit cards companies, and other medias for items that we know we love to buy. Because these marketers have learned our shopping behaviors and put us in his well designed database to keep track of our interests. I don't think that's a wrong thing to do. It's just the game we play in this world, we are being teased and tempted everyday to spend money into their pockets. Are we wise enough or end up like Qin the Scholar ?

Life Strategies from the Art of War

Reference:
Zhongguo Gudai Yuyan Gushi

Chinese Wisdom : A Fish Stranded in a Drying Puddle

Once there was a fellow walking along a road. Suddenly he heard a faint cry. He looked around but saw nothing. Thinking he heard nothing, he continued to walk. Again he heard the faint cry. This time the call was nearby. He searched high and low, and found the sound was coming out of a little fish lying in a drying pond. His mouth gurgling. That person looked at the fish strangely and asked,

"Was that you who was just calling me ? Was it you needing my help ? "

The small fish looking pleading at the man gasping and breathless said, "Please save me quickly, I am dying, I need water. I am not a normal fish, rather I am the eastern sea dragon's official. Please give me a little water." That person hearing this hurriedly nodded his head and said,

"I understand, I will immediately go to the south and let the southern king redirect a river to here so that you can swim and return to the eastern sea." The fish angrily cried out, "Can a fish live out of water ? I am only in need of a little water. Your idea is pointless. I think that the next time you see me will be in a shop that sells dried fish. "

The story tells us to reconsider solutions that we usually propose to solve real life problems. Sometimes we take our time too much to find the most ideal solution, while what the problem really needs is time critical solution.

We must always aware that many times in our lives we don't need the best solution but some quick fixes for the current situation to prevent it of becoming worse. Only until then, we have much more time to think and find the ideal solution.

THE ART OF WAR

Reference:
Zhongguo Gudai Yuyan Gushi

Image source:
http://www.combat-fishing.com

Zengzi (A Confucius Student) Kills the Pig

Zengzi was one of Confucius' most outstanding students. Zengzi is a very trustworthy person. One day his wife was going to the market to buy some things when their child began to cry following her for he wanted to go with his mother. The mother in order to calm the child said, "Hush, I'll be back soon and when I get home if you listen to mummy, I will kill a pig for you." When she returned, Zengzi seized the pig, and prepared to kill it. The mother asked, "What are you doing! I was only consoling the child, don't take it for real."

Zengzi turned to his wife and said, "You promised the child that after returning from the market you would. Now you have to keep that promise. The child is small but he has a mind, and will imitate you. Today we must kill a pig otherwise we will indirectly teach him how to cheat people. And if he understands that you are cheating him he will never trust you again. How terrible a consequence, we have to teach him the right way."

After the words, his wife lowered her head and then Zengzi raised the knife and killed the pig. He was the child's first teacher.

I think the interesting part of this story is the reason why Zengzi killed the pig. He killed it to avoid the terrible consequence, he realized how such example could lead his child into imitating the cheating behaviour. He also realized that trust is the most important thing in his leadership towards his child. He didn't want his child to stop trusting his parents. I believe you've already heard it from somewhere, "A child is not a good listener, he/she is a good imitator."

One of the biggest secrets to leadership success is Leading by Examples. If a leader lives his words, he does what he says. Then his disciples/students/followers will highly appreciate their leader. The true respect are borned from appreciations while false respect are borned from fear. And when all the students have the right kind of respect towards their leader, it will be the highway to a successful leadership.

Confucius: The Golden Rule

The Blind Men and The Elephant

Once there was an elephant, who had been brought up from the south. It incited the curiosity of the crowds, who all came to see the elephant. The crowd was in a small alley arguing as to what this animal was when some blind people heard of the elephant. They wished they could see what type of animal the elephant was, but knew that they could only use their hands to feel.

The first blind man felt the long tusk, excitedly he shouted, "I know what it is, it's a radish, a long long radish, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom." Another blind man feeling the elephant's leg said, "This elephant, how can it be a radish? I feel the roughness of the texture and its width, it obviously is a column." The third blind man felt the elephant's body and said, "How can you say it's a column? It obviously is a wall. The fourth man feeling the elephant's tail hurriedly said, "You are joking, the elephant is so soft, how can it be a wall? Obviously it is a long length of string.

These four people argued for half a day, and none of them could convince the others that his interpretation was the correct one. When we observe a new issue, sometimes we are too focused on some specific parts of the issue and then we quickly jump into conclusions. If we do such thing, we are surely risking ourselves to jump into wrong conclusions. So what we need to do is finding the whole picture of the issue while picking some specific parts that need to be observed in greater details. If we do this we'll avoid two of the extremes.

One extreme is we become too broad-view minded, we only know things on the surface we don't dive into details. This way we are risking ourselves into taking ineffective, inefficient, and careless actions.

The other extreme is we are diving too deep on certain specific parts, while ignoring other parts that perhaps can help and ease our ways in understanding and solving the issue.

Biography - Bruce Lee: The Immortal Dragon

Reference:
Zhongguo Gudai Yuyan Gushi

Image source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Blind_monks_examining_an_elephant.jpg

Medicine That Will Prevent Death

Once a man took some medicine that could apparently prevent death to the King of the Chu Kingdom. The official at the entrance of the palace took the medicine inside the palace but was stopped along the way by one of the king's personal guards. The guard asked the official, "What are you carrying ?" "Death preventing medicine," the official replied, "You eat it and you won't die." The guard immediately grabbed and swallowed the medicine in one gulp.

When the king heard of this he was furious, and sent for the guard. The guard come before the king and tried to plea his case. "Since a stranger offered this antideath medicine, if I had of died, when I ate the medicine, then it would have shown that it was actually an attemtp to poison you. If you kill me, it shows everyone that you are prepared to be fooled. You should release me for your reputation as a benevolent and wise king." The king thought there was some truth to his words and didn't kill him.

When someone offers or claims something, he or she must have certain motives. It could be good and sincere motives, but it can also turn out to be bad or negative motives. We should be aware to validate those motives, especially when he claims something that we know we want to believe. Validation is very important to prevent us being trapped into deceptions and the simplest form of validation is to validate his claims by putting his statements into action and observe the result.

The Dancing Dragon



Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes

The Fastest Horses in The World

In ancient times there was a king who wished to own a fast horse. He sent many men to inquire about such horse and offered to pay up to a thousand gold pieces for the horse. Three years passed, and the men who were sent out to buy those horses came back. But there was no horse bought. The king was worried and didn't know what to do. This time the king's lesser official said, "Let me go and search for one of these fleet footed horses."

When he finally found one, it had just died. The lesser official still paid five hundred gold pieces for the head of the horse. He took it back to the king. The king was furious. "I wanted a live one! What is the use of the head of a dead horse? You waste my five hundred gold pieces." The official calmly answered, "Dead or alive even though it cost five hundred gold pieces. Now the whole world knows that you sincerely are looking for a horse of this quality." So before long a real fleet footed horse was brought to the palace and offered for sale and then after less than one year, three more had been reached to the palace.

The wisdom behind this tale is if you want to reach or find or gain something that you need help from others to achieve it, sometimes it's not enough just to let others know about our desires. We need to make them feel that we really really want that thing, if they can feel in their hearts that we sincerely and earnestly pursuit those things, they'll be moved by our sincerity and persistence and begin to sincerely help us. Sometimes we want to help someone but when we see that he doesn't show a strong will to help himself that's very discouraging. This wisdom is very applicable in many areas of our lives.

Find more attractive Chinese Tales :

A Collection of Ancient Chinese Stories

Image source:
http://freedailyhoroscopeblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/horse-chinese-horoscope-2008.html

Reference:
Zhongguo Gudai Yuyan Gushi

A Chinese Anecdote : Eat in the East and Slept in the West

There once was a girl who lived in the Qi Kingdom. She was at marriageable age. As time went on, more potential suitors were proposing to her. One day two different men went to her house to propose. The first man was from the Eastern family. The Eastern family was very wealthy but ugly, and the second man was from the Western family, and was handsome but very poor.

Thus arose a problem, which family, and which man. Her parents discussed it all day and at length they realized the problem should also have her opinion. Hearing her parent's explanation, she was silent. Her parents realizing how difficult this decision would be said, "If you are embarrassed to speak your thoughts you may point using your hand." Tentatively the girl raised her right hand indicating the Eastern family, suddenly she also raised her left indicating the Western household. Her parents were bemused, "What ? You can't marry both of them." "No," she replied, "I was going to eat at the Eastern household and sleep at the Western family."

Beyond this story, we see that in our lives we sometimes face difficult choices and we live in a dilemma. When that kind of event arises we should think about our priorities, which choices that really fit our passions, desires, and moral values. And we must be very well determined when making our decisions, we must not regret and live a full life and awareness walking on those decisions.

Reference:
Zhongguo Gudai Yuyan Gushi