When to Quit According to Fan Li


Fan Li (范蠡) wore many hats: he was a prominent politician, a military strategist, and a successful merchant in the State of Yue during the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 B.C.). (See our map of Chinese states in the Spring and Autumn period)

He was not best known as a military strategist because of the galaxy of brilliant strategists serving at the courts of each Chinese state at his time, but rather was mostly renowned for his unparalleled political acumen and business savvy.

The highlight of his political career came when he served as an advisor to Goujian (remember The King of Swords post?), the king of Yue, and helped him conquer the powerful neighboring state of Wu against all odds. At the pinnacle of his success, to the surprise of the king and his colleagues, he chose to resign and decided to make a living as a merchant. He explained to his best friend and political ally about this decision with an analogy. "When the cunning hare is killed, the fleet hound goes into the cooking-pot; when the soaring bird is exterminated the  bow is laid aside (狡兔死走狗烹，飞鸟尽良弓藏)." Now that the King's cause had succeeded, the value of his advisors would diminish sharply. Serving the King would no longer be worth the high risks inherently embedded in a political career. His friend disagreed with this seemingly pessimistic view and stayed with the King, and was eventually put to death as the increasingly paranoid King grew suspicious of his loyalty.

Fan Li's business acumen made him very wealthy after he started his own commodity trading business, and spent much of his income in charity, caring for the local poor and those in need. For centuries to come, he would serve as a reminder for those seeking success - sometimes, it's more important to change direction than to push ahead.


Fan Li

Fan Li resigned and left the capital of the State of Yue

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please leave any comments or suggestions below. If you are shy of doing so, we can always be reached at ourlittlegallery2018@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Day in the Life in 5000 B.C.

Image
Hemudu (河姆渡) Culture dates back to around 5000 B.C. to 4000 B.C. It originated in areas near present day Hangzhou in  Zhejiang Province on the southeast coast of  China  (Check HERE for the geographical location of Hangzhou). The Hemudu relic site was one of the most prominent archeological discoveries in China. It proves the Neolithic culture was also present in south China. What's it like for people living in Hemudu? Hemudu people were natural architects. They designed and built their houses on stilts to adapt to their local living environment with plenty of rivers, lakes and ponds and associated humidity and floods. They also invented the mortise-tenon structure to combine two pieces of wood and widely used it in building their houses. While men were out hunting for animals, women were busy cooking. Hemudu people were among the first to cultivate rice. Cooked rice was usually served in potteries. Hemudu people were talented craftsmen with strong aesthetic sense. T
Read more

Zhuang Zi (II) -- The Debate on the Joy of Fish

Image
Last time we shared some high-level introduction of Zhuangzi. Here is a famous philosophical debate between Zhuang Zi and his friend Hui Shi, the debate on the joy of fish. It is in a way similar to the Socratic dialogues in Classical Greece. Zhuang Zi and Hui Shi were walking on the bridge over a river. Zhuang Zi said, "Look, the minnows are darting about free and easy! This is the happiness of the fish." Hui Shi replied, "You are not a fish. How do you know that the fish are happy?" Zhuang Zi challenged back, "You not being I, how can you know that I do not know that the fish are happy?" Hui Shi argued, "If I, not being you, cannot know what you know, it follows that you, not being a fish, cannot know the happiness of the fish." Zhuang Zi said, "Let's go back to the beginning of our conversation. You asked me how I knew the fish are happy. This very question that you asked shows that you already knew that I knew it. I knew it from my
Read more

Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai (The Chinese Romeo and Juliet)

Image
1700 years ago in China, education was a privilege to men. Zhu Yingtai, a young girl from a wealthy family in Zhejiang Province, longed for knowledge and convinced her family to allow her to pursue education disguised as a man. She went to a private school in Hangzhou where she met Liang Shanbo, a young man who later became her roommate and the very best friend. For three years, they studied together and Zhu gradually fell in love with Liang. However, as nerdy as he is, Liang never suspected for once that Zhu was indeed a woman.  When Zhu turned 18, her family abruptly called her back and arranged her marriage to Ma Wencai, a man from another wealthy family in the nearby village. Despite their unwillingness to separate, Liang saw Zhu off at the Duan Bridge ("Duan" means broken in Chinese) on the West Lake in Hangzhou. Zhu hinted Liang that she was actually a woman but how could Liang get it given that no woman at that time were allowed to attend school.
Read more