You must wonder why they would spend such a fortune housing and feeding so many people? Well, during a time of war, it’s a clever strategy to have as many friends as you can. Your friends can help you solve your problems. Your friends can even help you fight your enemies. It’s always nice to have friends watching your back!
Lord Meng’s Guest Sings to His Sword
One time, a guest called Feng Yuan came to stay with Lord Meng Chang of the Qi Kingdom. Lord Meng’s head servant thought Feng Yuan was just some poor fellow without any talent. So, the head servant had Feng stay in an economy room and served him the most basic meals.
Feng did not complain to Lord Meng. But after a while he would hold his sword and sing: “Long sword, long sword, it’s time to go. There’s no fish to go with the meal.”
The head servant reported Feng’s singing to Lord Meng. Lord Meng immediately ordered the head servant to move Feng to a nicer room and serve him fish and prawns.
Time passed, Feng was quiet for a while, but then he started singing again:
“Long sword, long sword, it’s time to go! There’s no carriage for me when I’m traveling!” Soon the song got back to Lord Meng. Meng immediately had the head servant prepare a carriage for him.
After another short while, Feng sang again: “Long sword, long sword, let’s go home! What a concern to have no money to support my family!
Lord Meng’s head servant complained. He was not happy with Feng and all his songs! Yet, Lord Meng ordered his head servant to send money often to Feng’s elderly mother.
Next week, we’ll find out about how Feng Yuan helped Lord Meng built the first hole of safety.
The following three part story was originally written by Sifu Jensen for the Kung Fu Animal Power Fu Book: The Rabbit. Kung Fu Animal Power is a system of martial arts based on the lore of the Kung Fu Animals created by Sifu Jensen for his children’s classes and as an intense foundation training system for adult Kung Fu students. The Animal Power Fu Books are fun books full of information and activities related to each animal. They are designed to be studied and completed while learning each Kung Fu Animal. The story below is based on a famous saying from Taiwan “A Clever Rabbit Has Three Holes”. I think it is a great saying and might be worthwhile considering again as we enter the year of the Water Rabbit 2023! We hope you enjoy it.
During the Warring States Period there was no Emperor uniting China. China was broken into many small Kingdoms all fighting to make their King the new Emperor. Each King’s best leaders were called Lords. The Lords controlled their own cities and fortresses. Each King also wanted a good general to lead the army and a good strategist to make plans. All the Lords looked for talented people with the skills to help them. If a Lord thought a person was a good fighter, or very smart, they would invite them to live at their home as a guest for free. Some Lords had over 3,000 guests and friends!
