Page 120 - Gan's Family History

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much on the road but when he saw
the low city walls in the distance, he
became excited and shouted, "I can
see the State of Kuang!"
With a flourish, he sounded a
crisp crack of his whip and the ox
gathered speed.
Kuang was a small state,
which the King of Zhou had granted
to a marquis. Several years ago, Yan
Hui had been with the Lu general
Yang Hu on an expedition against
Kuang. Partly because he was still
young and the expedition had left a
deep impression on him, partly
because the journey was boring and
he was in need of some thrill, he had
suddenly halted the cart and,
pointing to a big gap in the city wall,
shouted excitedly: "Look at that gap
in the wall! It was through that gap
that our Lu army forced its way into
the capital of Kuang."
Kuang had once been
dependant on Lu and then,
succumbing to pressure, had pledge
allegiance to Wei. On the pretext of
quelling this "open rebellion" Lu
unleashed an attack on Kuang. The
so-called "open rebellion" was a false
charge Yang Hu had imposed on the
people of Kuang.
Yan Hui involvement in the
expedition was not anything to his
credit. He was not much of a warrior.
He was only a feeble scholar. As a
matter of fact, when the vanguard
broke through the wall, he drifted in
with the rearguard soldiers. It was
really nothing to brag about, but he
was proud of himself.
The other disciples, out of
curiosity all gathered to look at the
gap in the wall and when Confucius
got off the cart and walked towards
the wall the citizens of Kuang,
observing Confucius' huge size and
fearsome visage, jumped to the
conclusion that he could only be
none other than the famous giant of
the time, Yang Hu - the former
dictator, who after his escape from
LU, had made a living by banditry
and was busy sacking and
plundering fortress up and down the
land.
A crowd quickly gathered,
seized Confucius and dragged him off
to prison. In the ensuing days, his
company of disciples were also
rounded up one by one and brought
to share in his confinement. After
five days, a young man was also
brought into the prison cell much to
the Master's huge relief. It was Yan
Hui.
"I thought you were dead!"
cried Confucius.
Yan Hui then delivered the
fond reply that won him immortal
fame among Chinese schoolboys and
their masters. He replied, "So long as
my Master lives, how could I dare to
die?"
One day, Confucius spoke to
his favourite pupil, Yan Hui. "Why
are we in such trouble, my son?" he
asked. "Is there something wrong
with my teaching?"
Yan Hui replied firmly, "Your
teaching is the truth, Master.
However, people don't recognise the
truth at first. If they did, they would
have no choice but to live by it. We
recognise it and we live by it, but our
rulers do not and so they live in error.
Still, what does it matter whether
anyone recognises you’re teaching