Neither side wins but both sides will suffer

[CHUNG Yoon-Ngan <chungyn@mozart.collective.com.au>]

  Neither side wins but both sides will suffer

  It was during the Period of Warring States (453BC to 221BC) that in
342BC Xuan Wang was installed as the ruler of the State of Qi (present day
Lin Zi county in Shandong province). The following year he mobilized his
armed forces and wanted to attack the State of Wei (present day Kai Feng
county in Henan province).

  A man named Chun heard of the bad news. He was a comical, humorous and 
witty person. He thought it was no good for his country to go to war with
Wei and so he must do something to stop it.
 
   He went to see Xuan Wang trying to persuade him from going to war.
Xuan Wang would not listen. In order to convince Xuan Wang that war was
bad he related to him a simple story:

  " Once upon a time there was a greyhound which was very good in catching 
rabbits. But there was also a sly rabbit which was an excellent runner. It 
seemed no other animals could catch it.

   One day, the greyhound met the rabbit. As soon as it saw the rabbit it 
jumped on it. But it missed and the rabbit ran away. The greyhound
determined that it must catch the rabbit which ran like mad for its life.
 
   One was chasing and the other was being chased after. They went round
and round the little hill for many times. They had been chasing and running 
for a long time and both of them were exhausted. Yet they did not stop but
continued the chasing and running. They were so tired and fatigued that 
they both collapsed and died.

    By coincidence, a farmer was on his way home after a day's work in
the field. While he walked passed by the little hill he saw the greyhound
and the rabbit lying dead on the ground. He picked them up and put them into 
his basket. He went home happily".

   Now Chun told Xuan Wang that if Qi were to go to war with Wei he could 
foretell that Qi and Wei would be like the greyhound and the rabbit. Both 
States would suffer. Since Wei was as strong as Qi it would become a 
protracted struggle. Heavy losses and casualties would incur on the 
troops from both States. Thousands upon thousands of civilians in both 
States could be killed. The damages caused by this war could be enormous.
In the final analysis neither States would win and both States will 
suffer. The State of Qin (present day Feng Xiang county in Shaanxi
province) or Chu (present day Jiang Ling county in Hubei province) could
take this opportunity to invade Qi and Wei.
 
   It could be just like the greyhound and the rabbit. Both parties ended
up exhausted, collapsed and died. Only the lucky farmer benefited from the 
their disasters.

   Xuan Wang was amused by Chun's story. Soon after he called off the 
upcoming plan of invading Wei.

"Lia3 Bai4 Ju4 Shang".
Zhan4 Guo2 (Warring States)

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan.    chungyn@mozart.collective.com.au