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Why Yanzi Exiled A Man
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 winter, Duke Jing had a very unusual pair of shoes made. The shoes had golden laces, silver decorations, strings of pearls, and jade ornaments on the toes. They were about one foot long. Duke Jing loved them so much that he wore them even during the coldest days of winter while attending to state affairs.
One day, when Yanzi came to court, Duke Jing rose to greet him. However, the shoes were so heavy that he could barely lift his feet. Simply moving around became difficult.
Duke Jing then asked Yanzi, “Is the weather cold?”
Seeing the duke’s shoes, Yanzi replied: “Why does Your Majesty ask whether the weather is cold? In ancient times, the sages designed clothing according to the seasons. Winter clothing was light and warm, while summer clothing was light and cool. Yet now Your Majesty wears shoes made of gold and jade in the middle of a snowy winter. Not only are they heavy, but they provide no warmth. Because they are so heavy, they burden your feet and make walking difficult. They are unsuitable for use and have lost the very purpose for which shoes exist.”
Yanzi then went on to criticize the shoemaker:
“This craftsman from the State of Lu does not understand the changing seasons, nor does he understand what is appropriately light or heavy. By violating natural principles, he commits his first offense.
By creating such abnormal footwear and causing Your Majesty to wear something that will be mocked by other feudal lords, he commits his second offense.
By consuming large amounts of wealth without producing anything beneficial to the state, and by wasting the labor and resources of the people, thereby creating resentment among them, he commits his third offense.
I request that he be arrested and judged according to the law.”
When Duke Jing heard this, he felt sorry for the craftsman and quickly defended him:
“This shoemaker worked very hard to make these shoes. He must have put in a great deal of effort. Let us simply release him.”
Yanzi responded:
“That would not be right. I have heard that those who work hard to do good should be richly rewarded. But those who labor diligently to do wrong should receive severe punishment.”
Duke Jing fell silent.
After court was dismissed, Yanzi immediately ordered officials to arrest the shoemaker. Rather than executing him, they escorted him out of the state and decreed that he was never to enter Qi again.
Afterward, Duke Jing removed the shoes of gold and jade and never wore them again.
Commentary
Frugality is an important virtue. The Daoist sage Laozi said,
"I have three treasures that I constantly hold firmly to: first is compassion, second is frugality, and third is not presuming to be at the head of the world."
Some people might think Yanzi was being too harsh to exile the shoemaker. After all, the shoemaker didn't really harm anyone. However, we have to look at not just the present effect but also the cascading effects.
For example, when King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty began using ivory chopsticks, one of his wise ministers warned that the dynasty would decline. Why?
If a ruler uses ivory chopsticks, he's probably not going to use earthenware. He'll probably use golden dishes and crystal glasses. With such luxurious dishware, he's probably not going to eat simple food. He'll probably eat rare and expensive delicacies. Eating so finely, he's probably not going to wear plain clothes. He'll probably wear lavish clothes. The cascade goes on and on.
Moreover, the people below the ruler will naturally emulate the ruler. Since the ruler values extravagance, the people below will also start to value extravagance. Rather than live frugally and work diligently, ministers might try to create even more fancy and wasteful objects to win the ruler's favor, gain promotions, and receive rewards.
But who pays for all this luxury and extravagance? Tax dollars from the people. When the people see their ruler and ministers spending their tax dollars like this, would they be happy? They want their tax dollars to be spent on helping the people, not on the ruler's extravagance. If their dissatisfaction accumulates, they will eventually revolt.
Therefore, although it may seem like the shoemaker just made some extravagant shoes for Duke Jing, the cascading effects can be huge. If Yanzi didn't set a severe punishment, a bad trend of extravagance and wastefulness might develop. That would spell disaster for the nation. Thus, he set a severe punishment in order to nip the problem in the bud. To give an analogy, it's much easier to pull on a weed while it's still small.
While we may not have the wealth and power of a king, we still need to guard against wastefulness and extravagance. As the Guidelines for Learners says,
"Value my clothes for being clean not fancy. Dress according to my role and within financial ability."
This should apply not just to clothes, but to everything that we buy. Frugality doesn't mean always buying the cheapest things. It just means we are cognizant of saving money, that we don't want to waste money. We focus on value for money.
Moreover, we should always think about cascading side effects of our decisions. To give some examples, if we choose to let our children play on their phones whenever they want, what will be the cascading effects down the future? If we choose to make an exception from the rule for one situation, what will be the cascading effects on other people and future situations? This would be applying Yanzi's spirit in our daily lives.
Conclusion
A misdeed might seem small, but if the wrong attitude behind the action is not treated with severity early on, then that attitude will grow, and future misdeeds will become more severe. Thus, it's very important for us to pay attention to people's attitudes and help them correct wrong attitudes early on.
Weekly Wisdom #416
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