铏氬乏浠ュ緟 (waiting with the left seat empty)
In the Warring States Period, there were four aristocrats called the Four Lords of the Warring States, famous for housing talent under their roofs. In spite of their noble identity and reputation, it was never easy to convince a capable man to work for them. To recruit a man named Hou Ying, the Lord Xinling of Wei (淇￠櫟鍚), one of the Four Lords of the Warring States displayed great patience.
Hou Ying (渚) was 70 years old at that time and lived in retirement. One day, Lord Xinling visited him with a generous gift. Hou refused, saying that receiving such a gift would be against his principles. Then, Lord Xinling held a grand banquet and rode his carriage to invite Hou, with the left seat empty. In those days, the left position was more honorable than the right, not to mention that Lord Xinling served as his driver. But Hou did not show gratitude and just sat on the left. But Lord Xinling was not enraged at all and performed even more respectfully. When they passed by a slaughterhouse, Hou asked Lord Xinling to stop, saying he wanted to meet a friend. Lord Xinling did so. Hou went to talk with his friend Zhu Hai (鏈变亥), with Lord Xinling waiting outside for a long time. But Lord Xinling kept a gentle expression on his face until they finished.
When they arrived at the banquet, Lord Xinling introduced Hou to all the guests and made a toast to him. Hou said to Lord Xinling, "All I did today was to build your reputation. People who saw today's situation will consider me as an arrogant and rude person, but consider you as a great gentleman." Since then, Hou became Lord Xinling's advisor. Zhu Hai also worked for Lord Xinling later.
涓夐【鑼呭簮 (Make three calls at the thatched cottage)
The Three Kingdoms was another period of war in Chinese history. China was divided into three states and each of them wanted to swallow the other two. In order to strengthen themselves, all three rulers searched for talent desperately. Cao Cao (鏇规搷), the head of Wei, wrote three famous public announcements to recruit able people, and treated those who came to him with kindness and generosity. But it was Cao's rival, Liu Bei (鍒樺), the king of Shu, who enjoyed the better known reputation of valuing talent, courtesy of the famous story "Make three calls at the thatched cottage (涓夐【鑼呭簮)".
It was said someone recommended Zhuge Liang (璇歌憶浜) to Liu, saying that Zhuge was a very wise and knowledgeable man, and could help him unify the whole country. Liu decided to invite Zhuge in person. He arrived at Zhuge's house in Longzhong, but was informed that Zhuge was not at home. Several days later, Liu went again, but still failed to meet Zhuge, because he had been out of town for days and had not come back. Another few days passed, Liu made his third call. This time, Zhuge was at home but taking a nap. Liu did not disturb him. He stood quietly beside the bed until Zhuge woke up.
Zhuge was deeply moved by Liu's sincerity and decided to follow him. In the following 27 years, Zhuge devoted the rest of his life to assisting Liu Bei and his son Liu Shan after Liu Bei died, to repay Liu's appreciation and respect for him.
Mastery Image courtesy of hqysw.cn
Article by Sun Jiahui (瀛欎匠鎱)
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