After what seemed to be a thorough inspection, and to everyone’s surprise, the jade carver pronounced: “It is but a common rock!”  Upon hearing this King Li was offended.  “How dare you thus insult me, your king?” he said and ordered Ho’s left foot cut off.  Hearing that Ho’s foot had been cut off as punishment, people became skeptical about his jade stone.

Years went by, King Li died, and King Wu succeeded him.  Even though by now everyone had begun to doubt Ho’s jade, he once again carted his treasure to the palace to make his presentation to the new king.  King Wu sent for his jade carver at once.  After inspecting the stone, the jade carver turned his head left and right many times and said, “I am afraid this is not a jade; it is only a rock.”  King Wu became quite angry.  “How dare you try to deceive me?” he said.  He ordered Ho’s right foot cut off.

Now people lost all faith in Ho; they called him a liar.  But Ho’s faith in his jade remained, and he knew one day he would be proven right.

Many years went by and Ho became an old man.  After King Wu died, King Wen succeeded him.  One day while embracing his jade at the foot of Chu Mountain, Ho began to cry, and he cried for three days and three nights.  He cried until he had no tears left and only blood filled his eyes.  King Wen heard about it and sent someone to inquire into the matter.  The messenger asked Ho, “In all the world there are many people who have lost their feet; so why are you crying so much?”

“Oh, I do not cry over the loss of both my feet,” Ho said.  “I cry because my precious jade is called a fake and I, an honest person, am called a liar!”

Hearing this, King Wen was deeply moved; he sent for his jade carver to polish the stone.  As Ho had predicted, the jade carver found the stone was indeed genuine, and he carved it into a beautiful bi, a flat ritual jade disc with a circular hole in the middle.  That precious jade piece was then known as Ho’s Bi.

Friendship

Xun Chu-po traveled a great distance to see a sick friend.  While he was there the Huns attacked the district.  His friend said to Chu-po, “I am going to die anyway.  But you, why don’t you leave me instead of staying here to be killed?”