How Yanzi Made His Ruler Look Good

Alex Chen
11 minutes ago
9 min read

Previously, we looked at how Yanzi humiliated his humiliator and diffused his ruler's anger. This time, we'll look at how Yanzi made his ruler look good. This might sound like a strange topic, but it's actually very important for our relationships and career success.

Around 2500 years ago, during the Spring and Autumn period of China's history, Duke Jing was the ruler of the State of Qi, and Yanzi was one of his trusted ministers. One time, Duke Jing ordered his citizens to build a grand pavilion for himself. It was the cold winter season, yet he forced the people to work day and night without rest. The people shivered in the frost and grumbled in misery, but no one could do anything to change the Duke's mind.

At that time, Yanzi was away on a mission to the State of Lu. The people all knew Yanzi's remarkable talents and whispered among themselves, “If only Yanzi would return! He is the one man who can persuade the Duke to stop this abuse.”

Not long after, Yanzi came back. Villagers rushed to him, pouring out their complaints, begging him to speak for them.

(Pause! If you were Yanzi, how would you respond to the villagers? After you have your thoughts, continue reading.)

Yanzi listened quietly to the people's complaints, nodded in acknowledgement, then went to see the Duke. The Duke was looking forward to the return of his trusted minister, and organized a banquet to greet him.

(Pause! If you were Yanzi, how would you communicate the people's misery to the Duke? After you have your thoughts, continue reading.)

When Yanzi reported the success of his mission, the Duke was elated. They ate, drank wine, and chatted happily. After a few drinks, he said to the Duke, "If your highness is willing to give me a small reward, could I sing a song?"

The Duke agreed. Yanzi then started passionately singing a sad song:

"The common folk bear grief untold,

Cold rain beats down, a chill so cold.

Alas, what can we do?

By orders above, my family must part,

It breaks my home, it breaks my heart.

Alas, what can we do?"

At the end of the song, Yanzi's voice was trembling, and he had tears streaming down his face.

The Duke leaned forward, startled. He understood at once. This is about the pavilion! He gently consoled Yanzi:

“Why do you grieve so? It must be because of the construction work. Do not worry—I will order them to be stopped. Let the people go home and reunite with their families!”

(Pause! If you were Yanzi, how would you respond to the Duke? After you have your thoughts, continue reading.)

Yanzi bowed deeply and thanked the Duke. The next morning, he woke up early, left the palace, and went straight to the construction site. There he saw workers resting, their tools laid aside. Suddenly, Yanzi seized a stick and struck them, shouting: “Even a minister like me has a roof over my head! Our magnificent ruler wishes to build a pavilion for himself, yet you people can't work hard? Get on it!"

Yanzi then left. The people were shocked. Anger rose among them. They cursed under their breath: “Yanzi is helping the ruler commit injustice—we were blind to trust him!”

Shortly after, a royal messenger arrived. He read the Duke’s decree aloud: “By order of the Duke—construction of the pavilion shall cease. Everyone may return home to your families.”

The people burst into cheer, their sorrow turned into joy, and everyone praised Duke Jing for his mercy and kindness.

Of course, Yanzi's merit couldn't be kept secret forever, and eventually, people knew of the truth, and Yanzi went on to be praised throughout history even until this day.

When Confucius heard the tale, he sighed with admiration:

“In ancient times, the best ministers gave all the glory to their ruler, while taking blame upon themselves. In court, they corrected mistakes; outside, they spread the ruler’s virtue. They never claimed achievements for themselves. Perhaps the only person who was able to accomplish this now is none other than Yanzi."

(Story source)

Commentary

When I first heard this story a couple years ago, I was kind of confused. Remember the three pauses in the story?

In the first pause, I would've told the people, "Don't worry, I'll communicate with the Duke for you."

In the second pause, I would've told the Duke, "Your majesty, I discovered that the people are complaining a lot about building the pavilion in the cold of winter. Perhaps we should do something to preserve the people's trust?"

In the third pause, when the Duke agreed to cancel the construction, I would've told the people, "Great news! The Duke has agreed to cancel the construction work! You can all go home!"

What's wrong with my way of thinking? Isn't this how most people would think? Why did Yanzi do what he did?

Indeed, many people would think the way I did, but Yanzi is an expert on etiquette and self-cultivation, so his behavior is worthy of study.

Remember that Yanzi's role is a minister. He has a leader above him: the Duke. If he makes the people oppose the Duke, that is against morality because his leader takes good care of him, and as a minister, his natural duty should be to help his leader succeed.

Some people might argue that morality is impractical and leads to being taken advantage of. But if we study history and look at things from a long time horizon, moral behavior brings true, long-term benefit, while immoral acts eventually bring disaster. For example, if the Duke senses that Yanzi is creating opposition between him and his people, he might feel threatened and order for Yanzi to be assassinated.

In history, there are many records of wicked people seizing the throne by force through immoral ways and succeeding in the short-term. However, when others see how they seized the throne, the people will be unhappy and may revolt shortly after, or more wicked people will try to seize the throne, so that person often dies a terrible death.

The First Pause

Back to the story. In the first pause, the people are already upset at the Duke. If Yanzi says, "Outrageous! I will communicate with the Duke for you," then he would be deepening the opposition between the people and the Duke. If the Duke hears of this, he might start to doubt Yanzi's trustworthiness and support, and that could be the start of a downward spiral. But Yanzi's goal is to help his ruler succeed, so he didn't say anything that might imply that he agrees that the Duke is wrong.

Here, we should reflect on ourselves. When we hear someone talking about the faults or problems of others, especially our leaders, do we chime in and say, "Wow that's outrageous! I can't believe they would do that!" If so, we are helping to create a divide between those two people.

What goes around comes around, so if we want to protect ourselves, we should be planting seeds of harmony, not seeds of opposition. We could say, "Oh that sounds tough for you. But I also wonder what their side of the story is. They might have their own difficulties and reasons for doing what they did." Or if we are at a loss for words, we could simply not comment, change the topic, or make an excuse to leave.

The Second Pause

In the second pause, Yanzi was about to meet the Duke and advise him to stop the construction. There isn't one correct way to advise the Duke, but Yanzi's method was extremely tactful. He first reported the good news to make his ruler happy. Then they drank some wine, so his ruler would be relaxed and he could pretend to be a little bit drunk. Then he asked for permission to sing a song as a reward for his good work. The Duke was, of course, happy to grant his wish.

Then in the song, he sang about the suffering of the people due to the construction work. If the Duke got unhappy, Yanzi could make the excuse that he's a bit drunk and doesn't know what he's doing. But if the Duke had some intelligence, he would understand Yanzi's hidden message. This indirect way of communicating also protects the Duke's good image because Yanzi never directly criticized the Duke. Instead, he cries about a situation via a song, and the Duke can be the hero by saying, "I will cancel the construction work!"

If Yanzi had directly said, "Your highness, the people are quite upset at doing construction work in the cold of winter. I say we cancel it," the Duke might feel attacked, as if hearing, "Your highness, you caused the people to be unhappy. What's wrong with you. You need to listen to me to solve this problem." If the Duke feels threatened by a minister, then that minister is in danger.

Here, we should also reflect on ourselves. When we advise others, are we tactful? If so, others would be willing to accept our advice, or at the very least, not feel offended if they don't accept our advice. If our advice giving lacks tact, then others might get upset and distance away from us. Advising others is a big topic in itself, and I previously wrote a detailed post on it: Rules for Effective Criticism.

One very important principle is to be humble, especially when the person you are advising is of higher or equal position to you. For example, we don't say, "You should do X." Instead, we can say, "I have some suggestions to report, but since my perspective and understanding of the situation is limited, these suggestions are just for your consideration and confirmation."

Notice how the first method creates an attitude of opposition, as if what they are doing is wrong, and what you are saying is right. If they get upset, then logic gets thrown out the door, and conflict arises between egos. The second method is very humble and puts yourself below them, so there's no conflict. Moreover, if the suggestion is a good suggestion, you can give the credit to them because they confirmed your idea and decided to implement it. That brings us to the third pause.

The Third Pause

Why did Yanzi suddenly become a villain and scold the people to work harder? Because the people felt that Duke Jing is the villain, and Yanzi wanted them to view Duke Jing as the hero. That's why he started to "abuse" the people, so that he could become the new "villain", and Duke Jing could get the glory of "saving the people".

On the other hand, imagine if Yanzi had said, "Good news everyone! I communicated with the Duke on your behalf, and the Duke agreed to let you guys return home!" What would happen? Everyone would praise Yanzi. Some people might even start spreading rumors that Yanzi is fit to be the ruler, while Duke Jing is not. If the Duke hears about this, he might feel threatened by Yanzi, and that would be dangerous.

This reminds me of a quote by the Daoist sage Lao Zi:

"I have three treasures that I constantly hold firmly to: first is compassion, second is frugality, and third is not being at the head of the world."

Most people like glory. They think it's good to be at the head of the world. But those with glory are in the spotlight, and those in the spotlight will often attract jealousy and danger. A big tree is cut down for its timber, while a small tree is left alone and safe. Moreover, our success is highly dependent on our relationships. When we give glory to others, others will be happy and will want to work with us more. If we take glory and make them look bad, they won't want to work with us in the future. Thus, giving glory to others is the wise thing to do because it brings us long-term benefit.

We can reflect on ourselves: Do we often try to take glory and make ourselves look good? Do we try hard enough to give others glory and make others look good?

For example, a friend of mine recently told me that she started working at a new company, and her manager asked her for some suggestions. She then gave a suggestion for the company. Her manager thought it was a good idea and reported it to a higher-leveled manager. The higher-level manager didn't like the idea. Later, the company hired an external consulting firm, and they gave the same suggestion as my friend. The higher-level manager then seemed to treat my friend even more coldly.

This is an example of the importance of etiquette and relationship politics. Just because we have good ideas doesn't mean we will naturally win people's support. We have to know how to communicate and navigate relationships tactfully.

If my friend had used the method of "reporting some ideas for your consideration and confirmation", then the upper manager might not have felt threatened or challenged by a new employee, and that conflict could've been prevented. If people later praise my friend for her great judgment, she could say, "Actually it was just a guess from me. It's my manager who had the experience and vision to see the true merits of this idea and execute it."

Along the same line of reasoning, if we want to start a new initiative at work, we can first propose it to the leader and ask if it's a good idea. After all, the leader has a higher and broader view of the situation than us, so they might see perspectives and details that we can't. If the leader agrees and the idea is successful, then we can direct the glory to them. If it turns out to be a bad idea, then the leader can share the responsibility with us and allocate resources to help us mend the situation.

Concluding Thoughts

Do you help others create harmony or opposition?
How tactful are you in giving criticism and advice?
Do you unconsciously seek glory, or do you consciously remember to give glory and take blame?

Weekly Wisdom #357