Chen Yuan Fang

Salome Xie -- Sun 18, 2014, 9:54 am

Chen Zhonggong, a country magistrate in the last years of the Han Dynasty (206B.C.—220A.D.), once made an appointment, with a friend to set off together on a trip at noon. But the friend did not come on time. So Chen started off alone. After a while, the friend arrived only to find Chen's seven-year-old son, Yuanfang, playing outside the house. The friend asked Yuanfang, "Is your father in?" Yuanfang replied, "He's waited for you for quite a while, but you didn’t come. So he's gone by himself already."

"Bastard!" the man muttered angrily. "How could he make an appointment and break it just like that?"

Yuanfang retorted, “You had an appointment with my father and yet you're late, this shows that you’re not trustworthy. What's more, you pour abuse on a person in front of his son, this is imprudent!"

The friend was ashamed to hear this. He descended from his carriage, intending to offer his apologies, but the boy had already turned his back on him and entered the house.

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