Tian Zifang (8)

1 King Wen had stayed at his summer resort in Zang for some days. In these days, he noticed an old man holding a fishing pole by the Wei River. The old man sat still but he never fished a fish. Sometime the king doubted if he fixed the hook to the line or not. Obviously, the old man just enjoyed the tranquil moment, without caring for the fishing.

2 The king thought that sitting still for such a long time means he is sound enough; without caring for the fishing means he is selfless and not greedy. Are not soundness, selflessness and not greed the best characters of a ruler?

3 So, the King Wen decided to appoint the old man as the minister and be entrusted to govern the country.

4 However, the king was afraid that a so important position consigned to a stranger, the other officials and royal relatives would against this proposal. Whereas he thought in other side, if such an outstanding man was left due to the opposite opinion, it would be an enormous loss to the people.

5 Considering it in many ways, the king decided to conceive a pretext so that it would help the appointment been approved. Next day, he told his officials on the early duty, “Yesterday, I dreamed that an old man, whose face was tan and whose cheek was bearded, rode a horse of assorted color, a foot of which was red. The old man ordered me to appoint an old man of Zang as the minister. He said that this old man could make people live well.”

6 The officials who thought themselves wise expressed their opinions in succession. “The old man who you mentioned should be your father because his face looked like that.”

7 The king disguised his intention and said, “Let us do a divination to test its truth.”

8 The officials all persuaded, “This is an order from your father. You have no choice. Divination is unnecessary.”

9 The appointment of the old man of Zang as the minister was done. After the old man took his post, he didn’t change any law, nor issue a new policy. His governance was like his fishing. He sat in his office to listen silently to the reports from all places. What he said occasionally, was brief instruction or a little of praise. In most cases, he just made a slight nod. To most things, he didn’t express an opinion.

10 Three years passed. The king made a detailed investigation about the situation in this country. He found that factions and collusions were gone; officials in all cities were amiable; they didn’t show off their virtue and achievement; measuring apparatus of various standards were gone in the market. Owing to no faction and collusion, the policy was easy to be made and carried out, and power of central government was reinforced in silence.

11 Officials were amiable so appetence to people increased and the support rate for government rose. The same measuring apparatus made trades fair so that disputes became less. People were friendly. Peace prevailed among seigneurs. Reinforced cohesion made the King Wei’s position as the leader of the union steadier.

12 Reading the report of the investigation, the king was very delighted. He decided to confer the old man as the master of the state. In the conferring ceremony, the king said to the old man, “I will be an overlord due to our governance and achievement after unifying the countries. Then you are expected to help me at full steam in a higher position.”

13 The old man of Zang didn’t respond with a deadpan. After the ceremony, he packed up his luggage and then left without saying goodbye. Since then he was gone and disappeared for ever.

14 Having heard the story, Yan Yuan remarked, “The King Wen was really disguised. Just an appointment, he didn’t need to conceive a pretext at all.”

15 Confucius didn’t think so. “Well! Don’t say so. We should understand the effort made by King Wen for his country to find a talent. As for the pretext, it is a skill. We should not ridicule his strategy. Gain of the talent is more important. The detailed actions may be neglected.”