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Power and organisation

Duke Wen of Jin

Taking advice

Duke Wen of Jin (Spring and Autumn · died 628 BCE) — Taking advice.

Power and organisationPre-Qin and classicalTaking advice

What actually happened?

Passing through Wey in exile, Chong'er was treated without courtesy. At Wulu his party was starving, and they begged food from a farmer, who handed him a clod of earth. Chong'er was furious and reached for his whip. His uncle Zifan stopped him: this is a gift from heaven. Earth is land, and land is a state. Chong'er bowed, accepted the clod and loaded it on his carriage. He had already spent twelve years among the Di, and home was still seven or eight years away.

Suspect the place you least want to leave

In Qi he was given a wife and eighty horses and settled in. His wife told him that longing and ease ruin a name. When he still refused, she and Zifan got him drunk and put him in a carriage.

The job is easy and kind, and you haven't asked where you meant to go in three years.

When someone who hurt you knocks, hear him out

The eunuch Pi had hunted him twice and once cut off his sleeve. When plotters planned to burn the palace, Pi came to warn him. The duke sent him away, then heard his argument, saw him and escaped the fire.

The rival who fought you hardest comes to see you. Hear what he has to say before you decide.

Everyone watches how you treat one person

The servant who ran off with his stores came back asking to see him. The duke said he was washing his hair. The servant sent word that a ruler's grudge against one small man frightens many. The duke saw him at once.

How you treat the colleague who nearly left is watched by everyone else who wavered.

Pay the debt, then see if they follow

In exile he promised the king of Chu that if their armies met, Jin would fall back three stages. At Chengpu it did, ninety li. The Chu general pressed on anyway, put himself in the wrong, and was routed.

Before you compete with someone who helped you, settle what you owe them openly.

How do I use it today?

If someone near you is saying what you don't want to hear, that you should leave a comfortable place, meet a person you resent, or give ground before a fight, don't answer no today. Write down what they said and read it again tomorrow. Ask whether it serves you or them. The duke did not always listen well; he still invaded Cao, whose ruler once spied on him in the bath. But he got home after nineteen years because a few people around him dared to finish their sentences, and in the end he let them.

Deep read

Longing and EaseThe place you least want to leave deserves the most suspicionHe settled in Qi, and his wife got him drunk and sent him offThe Cut SleeveWhen someone who hurt you knocks, hear him out firstThe man who once slashed his sleeve came to warn him of a fireThree Stages BackPay the debt first, then see whether they keep comingA promise made in exile, kept on the field at Chengpu

Read alongside

Cao CaoBoth faced people who had wavered. After Guandu, Cao Cao found letters his own officers had sent the enemy and burned them unread, clearing a whole group at once. Duke Wen faced them one at a time at his door, the man who had hunted him and the servant who ran off with his stores. He shut the door first, and opened it once they had made their case. Xiang YuBoth chose between comfort and the long road. Xiang Yu took the Qin capital, longed to go home to Chu, and would not hear the man who urged him to stay. Chong'er also wanted to stay in Qi, and was pushed into a carriage by his wife and his uncle. One had nobody able to stop him; the other had people who dared.

Further

Guan Zhong Cao Cao Xiang Yu Feng Yi King Wuling of Zhao

Lines to keep

Longing and ease ruin a name.

A ruler's command allows no second mind.

When a ruler bears a grudge against a commoner, many are afraid.

We fall back three stages to repay them.