Stories from Ancient China: A Forgiving Man Wins Respect from Every One

Ren Dijian was a man from the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) in China. He worked for a military general named Li Jinglue.

One day Li Jinglue held a banquet for the army. Ren Dijian was late for the banquet, so he was forced to drink a large chalice of wine as punishment. However, the server mistook a bottle of vinegar as wine and poured him a large chalice of vinegar. Ren Dijian knew it was vinegar when he raised the chalice to his lips. But he knew Li Jinglue to be a very austere and strict man. If Li Jinglue knew the server had served him vinegar instead of wine, the server would surely be executed. Hence, he decided to drink the large chalice of vinegar to cover the server's mistake. Before the server could give him more, he asked for a different "wine" and used an excuse that he preferred stronger wine.

Ren Dijian became ill and collapsed when he went home. He could not stop coughing up blood, but he did not tell anyone about it. Li Jinglue's officers and the soldiers found out about it somehow and they were brought to tears. Li Jinglue, too, was deeply touched, so he decided not to punish the server.

Who is without fault or mistake? He who is willing to understand and forgive other people's mistakes has a broad, forgiving heart. Ren Dijian won the respect of an entire army because he was forgiving and generous and because he was able to forgive the server's mistake. After Li Jinglue passed away, all the officers and soldiers asked to have Ren Dijian take his place. When Emperor De heard about Ren Dijian's story, he appointed Ren to be governor of Fengzhou prefecture and military general of Tiande before he promoted him to Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Public Works. After he passed away, he was given the honourable title of Minister of Justice.