(Clearwisdom.net) Once in the Chunqiu Dynasty (770 B.C. - 476 B.C.), a winter was very cold. There was a huge snowfall in the Qi State that had continued for three days already. People were very tired of it and wished it would stop soon.
The Qi King, Qi Jinggong (547 B. C. - 490 B. C.) was enjoying the scenery from his window while wearing a fox fur coat. He felt that the snow was becoming more and more beautiful, and wished that the snow would continue for several more days so the scenery would be even prettier.
At this moment, his courtier Yan Ying stepped in. Qi Jinggong said to him in high spirits, "The weather is strange this winter. You see, it has been snowing for three days, yet I do not feel cold, but rather feel like the spring is here."
Yan Ying saw that Jinggong wore a warm fur coat and his room had a hot stove burning, so of course he felt like it was spring. Yan Ying asked Jinggong intentionally, "Are you sure it is not cold at all?"
Jinggong felt that Yan Ying's question was rather funny and then nodded his head with a smile. Yan Ying knew Jinggong did not understand why he asked such a question, so then he spoke frankly. "My King, I heard that a wise king would think of hungry people when he is full, think of cold people when he is warm, and think of miserable people when he is comfortable and happy. How come you did not think of others?"
Jinggong was very embarrassed and his face blushed red because he knew he was wrong.
This story tells us that one should not care only about oneself without caring about others. One should think of others more in every circumstance.
Category: Traditional Culture
