[PureInsight.org] During the Zhou Dynasty, there was a man called Xi Que in the land of Jin. Xi Que and his wife lived a very harmonious married life; they respected each other and treated each other like guests. One day, Xi Que was working in a field, his wife brought food to him; his wife humbly handed the food with both hands to Xi Que, Xi Que humbly extended his hands to reach for the food.
Right at that moment, a government official named Qiu Ji was passing by. Upon witnessing such a scene, Qiu Ji was greatly moved. Qiu Ji then went to visit the King of Jin and strongly recommended Xi Que to the King, Qiu Ji asked the King of Jin to promote Xi Que to the highest military position in the kingdom. The King of Jin was curious, Qiu Ji then said, “Your highness, Xi Que respects other people very much, even his wife is not an exception. Respecting others is the most significant manifestation of one’s virtuous characteristics; we must take in such people.”
What happened later proved that Qiu Ji was right. After Xi Que was promoted to the highest military position in the kingdom, he won people’s trust through his virtuous deeds; Xi Que proved to be a very clever military strategist who was also extremely brave. In a battle against a neighbouring state near a place called Ji, Xi Que led his soldiers to capture the King of the state and accomplished a great victory for his country.
Consequently, Xi Que was awarded greatly; he was given a lot of land around Ji.
A famous Ming Dynasty scholar named Lu Kun said, “A married couple sees each other every day, and the couple knows each other very well. Yet, Xi Que and his wife treated each other with sincere respect even though they were having three meals together every day. An ancient scholar once said, ‘Marriage can’t do without respect towards each other.’ When a couple’s marriage is in trouble, it always stems from a lack of following the ancient rule that husband and wife must respect each other.”
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/node/135637
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