How Yanzi Humiliated His Humiliator

Around 2500 years ago in ancient China, Yanzi (晏子) was a minister in the State of Qi. One time he went as an envoy to the State of Chu. Both states were major states at the time, and the King of Chu wanted to humiliate Yanzi as a way to humiliate the State of Qi.

He knew that Yanzi was rather short, so he told the gatekeepers to tell Yanzi to enter through the small door instead of the main gates. When Yanzi arrived at the gates, the gatekeeper said, "Our king said you can use the small door."

Yanzi replied, "This door is for dogs. If I'm visiting a dog state, it makes sense for me to enter through the dog door. But I'm visiting the State of Qi, right?"

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The gatekeeper was speechless and had no choice but to open the main gates for him.

When he arrived at the king's chambers, the king said, "Does the State of Qi have no people, that they would send you as an envoy?"

Yanzi replied, “In Linzi, the capital of Qi, there are three hundred districts. If the people raise their sleeves, they can block out the sun. If they shake off their sweat, it falls like rain. If they stand shoulder to shoulder, their heels touch one another. How could there be no people?”

The king asked, "Then why did they send only you?"

Yanzi replied, “In Qi, the choice of envoys is always deliberate. The virtuous are sent to virtuous rulers; the unworthy are sent to unworthy rulers. Which one do you think I am?”

The king then laughed and said, "Alright, enough talk. Let's have some wine."

Shortly after, two soldiers brought in a man bound with ropes. The king asked, "What has this man done?"

The soldiers replied, "He is from the State of Qi, and his crime is theft."

The king looked at Yanzi and said, "Do all the people in Qi like to steal?"

Yanzi replied, "I have heard that when orange trees grow south of the Huai River, they bear sweet oranges. When they grow north of the Huai River, they become bitter oranges. Though the leaves look the same, the fruit tastes different. Why is this so? Because the water and soil are different. Likewise, the people of Qi, when living in Qi, do not steal, but when they come to Chu, they commit theft. Could it be that the water and soil of Chu cause people to become thieves?”

The King of Chu laughed and said,

“A sage truly cannot be mocked. I originally wanted to humiliate you, but instead I have brought humiliation upon myself."

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Commentary

Mencius said,

"A person humiliates himself before others can humiliate him. A family destroys itself before others can destroy it. A nation attacks itself before others can attack it." 

Yanzi was indeed a very wise and witty person to be able to counter all of those traps set by the King of Chu, but if the King of Chu didn't humiliate himself first, Yanzi would've never been able to humiliate him back. What does this mean?

The King of Chu stooped low to set up these traps for Yanzi. Doing such rude and immoral things is a form self-humiliation, and his rude behavior has been recorded and read by countless people in history books.

Since Yanzi was very wise, he was able to turn all those traps against the King of Chu. If the King of Chu had respected Yanzi instead, Yanzi would have no way of humiliating the King of Chu (nor would he want to).

Some people might argue, "Well, Yanzi is a rare, gifted person. If he were a normal person, he would've been humiliated by the King of Chu, and the King of Chu would've had the last laugh."

But is that true? If Yanzi wasn't wise and actually got humiliated, the State of Qi probably would've gotten angry and plotted revenge. That would be a case of "A nation attacks itself before others can attack it."

So from this story, we see the importance of treating others the way we want to be treated. When we treat others a certain way, whether respectfully or disrespectfully, we plant the karmic seed for them to treat us back the same way in the future, and when the conditions ripen, we will receive the corresponding results.

For example, I noticed how Yanzi was very considerate and respectful in his counter-attacks. He didn't say, "Sure, I'll enter through the dog gate because I guess I'm visiting a state of dogs". Instead, he said, "I'm visiting the State of Chu (not a state of dogs), right?"

He also said, "Could it be that the water and soil of Chu cause people to become thieves?" rather than "It must be because the environment in Chu made good people from Qi become thieves."

I have heard two versions of the story, one where Yanzi said "I am most unworthy, so I've been sent to the State of Chu," and the other version is "Which one do you think I am?" I opted for the second version because I think it's more in alignment with Yanzi's spirit in the other two situation.

From this, we can see that Yanzi has no hostility against the State of Chu, he's only protecting his own state's image (which is his duty) while also trying to teach the State of Chu a lesson in a respectful and indirect manner. If he had offended the King of Chu, then that might cause a war. But by being respectful towards the King of Chu, especially despite being treated with disrespect, Yanzi planted the seeds for being treated with respect back. After three rounds, the King of Chu changed his mind and respected Yanzi and the State of Qi.

As Mencius said,

"Those who love others will always be loved by others. Those who respect others will always be respected by others."

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Weekly Wisdom #354