(Minghui.org) Jealousy is a toxic emotion that harms others and hurts oneself. When someone in a high position demonstrates jealousy, that person can ruin a country. Below are two examples of the consequences of jealousy.
The Story of a Nose
According to Zhan Guo Ce (Strategies of the Warring States) and Han Feizi (The Complete Works of Han Fei Tzu), Zheng Xiu was King Huai of Chu’s queen consort (King Huai reigned from 328-299 BC). Although she was pretty and intelligent, she also demonstrated intense jealousy.
One day, the kingdom of Wei sent a beautiful woman to meet King Huai, and the King liked her very much. Zheng was jealous of this woman but didn’t let her feelings show. Not only that, she sent nice clothing and jewelry to her and provided the woman with exquisite housing and furniture. King Huai was pleased to hear of this and said, “Being jealous is understandable. Zheng knows I like the woman from Wei, but she cares about her more than I do. This shows her loyalty and integrity.”
After confirming that King Huai still trusted her, Zheng put a plan into action. First, she casually said to the woman from Wei, “The King likes you a lot but does not care for the shape of your nose. If you could cover your nose whenever you meet him, he will love you more.” The woman trusted Zheng and followed her advice.
Curious about why the woman from Wei was doing this, King Huai asked Zheng about it. Zheng pretended to be scared and reluctant to tell him anything. King Huai said, “You can say it no matter how ugly the words are.” Zheng replied, “The woman once said she found your smell to be disgusting.”
Furious upon hearing the explanation, King Huai ordered the guards to cut off the woman’s nose. Although Zheng removed her rival, this episode made her known as one of the most notorious women in history.
Ruining a Country
Shi Ji (Records of the Grand Historian) documented another story involving Zheng. In 311 BC, King Huiwen of Qin attacked the state of Chu, threatening to exchange a piece of land in Qin for a strategic area of Qianzhong in Chu. Because Qin’s senior official Zhang Yi had deceived Chu in the past, King Huai of Chu said, “I do not want your land. If you give me Zhang Yi, I will give you the strategic area of Qianzhong you want.”
King Huiwen agreed to the exchange and sent Zhang Yi to Chu. King Huai arrested Zhang as soon as he arrived, intending to kill him.
Jin Shang, a senior official of the Chu state, was a friend of Zhang Yi and decided to save his life. He knew Zheng Xiu well and recognized her jealousy. So, he said to her, “Do you want to be abandoned by King Huai?” Seeing Zheng Xiu puzzled, Jin explained, “King Huiwen of Qin likes Zhang Yi very much. He plans to give King Huai land in six counties along with extremely beautiful women. King Huai wants more land and will agree. But when those beautiful women arrive, the King might ignore you.”
Thus Zheng Xiu told King Huai, “Trust is very important between countries. Qin gave us Zhang Yi before we gave him the land in Qianzhong because he trusts you. If you kill Zhang Yi now and do not give Qin the land, they will attack us for sure. I plan to flee with our sons to avoid seeing such a tragedy unfold.” After she said this several times, King Huai believed her and not only released Zhang Yi but also became an ally of the Qin. King Huai was later defeated by the Qin army and arrested. In the end, he died in Qin, far from his own kingdom.
As we can see from this story, Zheng Xiu’s jealousy ultimately harmed not only others, but also herself and her country.
There are also examples of the negative effects of jealousy that have occurred in recent history. Jiang Zemin, a former leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), wanted to control people at any price. Seeing that the meditation system of Falun Dafa had attracted 100 million Chinese people because of its ability to improve mind and body, he began to relentlessly suppress the practice in July 1999. By doing so, he not only brought endless tragedies to Falun Dafa practitioners and their families (including detention, torture, brainwashing, killing, and death from forced organ harvesting) but also deceived the general public with lies to push them away from Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.
The persecution of Falun Dafa, through lies and deception, has undermined the moral foundation of China and is even threatening the world.
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Category: Traditional Culture
