How Yanzi Turned Embarrassment Into Encouragement

Alex Chen
1 hour ago
3 min read

Yanzi lived at the time of Confucius and was highly respected by Confucius. Previously we looked at a few of his stories:

Today, we'll look at another story on how he turned his ruler's embarrassing situation into encouragement.

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 day, Duke Jing had an urge to climb a tree and scoop out a sparrow's nest. He then pulled a chick out and saw that it was really small, so he gently placed the chick back inside the nest.

Yanzi found out about this incident, and he went at once to see the Duke. Since the Duke had just climbed a tree and put the sparrow back in its nest, he was sweating profusely, his clothing was messy, and his appearance no longer regal. Just as he turned his head, he saw Yanzi standing there, and he was a bit startled.

(Pause: If you were Yanzi, what would you think of the Duke and say to him?)

Yanzi bowed and asked, "May I ask what Your Grace was just doing to be in such a state?"

The Duke sheepishly replied, "I was just looking for some sparrows to take, but when I saw the chicks were too small, I put them back."

(Pause: If you were Yanzi, what would you say to the Duke?)

Hearing this, Yanzi stepped back a little, turned to the north, and bowed twice. He congratulated the Duke, saying "My lord has the way of a sage king!"

The Duke was surprised and said, "I was merely taking sparrows and then putting them back because they were too small. What does that have to do with the way of a sage king?"

Yanzi answered, “Your Grace took out the sparrows, but seeing they were too small, you returned them to the nest. This shows your compassion for the young and weak. If such kindness is extended even to birds, how much more will it be extended to people? This compassion is precisely the way of a sage king.”

Hearing this, Duke Jing felt very encouraged and gained more motivation to be a great leader.

(Story Source)

Commentary

When we see others do something silly or make a fool out of themselves, what do we do? Do we laugh at them? Or criticize them? What's the result? Perhaps they'll feel bad about themselves. Or they'll argue with us. Or worse, they’ll resent us.

For Duke Jing, the ruler of a state, to be climbing a tree and taking sparrows from a nest was quite a silly sight. It's not a kingly thing to do. He became all sweaty, messy, and lost his majestic manner. Other people might've laughed or mocked him, but Yanzi did not.

Instead, Yanzi covered up the Duke's embarrassment and turned it into praise by focusing on the spark of compassion within the Duke's actions. He seized the opportunity to encourage the Duke and guide him towards virtue. The Duke might not have thought about how he could be more kind towards his people, but when Yanzi told him that his kindness towards even little sparrows reflects the deep sage-like kindness within him, he would naturally be inspired to practice more kindness towards the people and emulate the past sage kings.

This really shows how devoted Yanzi is to his ruler, seizing every opportunity to grow his ruler's virtues, to help the ruler govern well and benefit the people. If we truly want to help others succeed, we would do well to learn from Yanzi. Moreover, when the people around us are well, how can we not be lifted up with them?

Conclusion

The next time someone makes a mistake or does something silly, rather than laugh at them, think about how you could cover up for them and affirm their good points. When people get encouraged despite their mistakes, they will feel very grateful and be self-motivated to improve.

Weekly Wisdom #403