Portrait of an Emperor
a conqueror, he was opposed to war, and yet he knew that as long as there are men there will be wars. But even when the last war is over, there will still be China.
He thought of the stories that were told in T'ang Annals of the "Harmony Clan," a patriarchal family with more than a thousand members who dwelt together without discord. In the family records there was no echo of quarrels. One of his predecessors, Emperor Kao Tsung, had visited the head of the clan. Though Kao Tsung was a great Emperor, he was unable to keep his palace in order. The petty quarrels, bickerings and intrigues would have filled ten thousand scrolls. So he was amazed to find such a family.
Impulsively he called on the little old man, the thin little old man whom a thousand relatives venerated. He forgot that he was an Emperor. He was fascinated by the power of this little wisp of a man.
"What is the secret by which so many people live without discord?" he asked.
For answer, the old man wrote a hundred characters on a bit of silk, and each represented the same word: "Forbearance."
In humility, the Emperor returned to his palace to discover that it was split like a battlefield into rival factions.
Ming Huang smiled as he thought of the story, but it was a smile without mirth. Since P'an Ku chiseled out the Universe had there ever been a year when all the world was at peace? He sighed as he walked down
the hillside into his gardens where the rushing waters
