Stories from Ancient China: Forgiving the Faults of Others

Bingji, a prime minister in the Han dynasty of ancient China, was known for his kindness towards others. Once, when his chauffeur followed him out, the chauffeur was so drunk that he vomited on the prime minister's vehicle. Bingji's manager wanted to fire the chauffeur, but Bingji said: "Would anyone hire him if they find out that he was drunk and got fired? Let forget about it. After all, he only soiled the car cushion."

The chauffeur was from a border district and was familiar with the procedures for transmitting documents from the border. Once, when he went out and saw horses from courier station carrying two bags in red and white rushing by. He knew there was an urgent military situation at the border. He thus went to a government office to enquire about it and found out that the Northern tribes were invading the Yunzhong and Dai prefectures.

The chauffeur rushed back and reported the event to the prime minister. He said: "I am worried that, since the officials at these two prefectures are old and in poor health, when they encounter warfare, they won't know how to handle it."

Bingji agreed and called in the officials from the Ministry of Civil Appointments to enquire about the situation of the officials in those two prefectures. Before he was able to completely work it out, the emperor summoned the prime minister and the imperial censor and told them: "The Northern tribes have invaded prefectures of Yunzhong and Dai. How should the officials in those prefectures handle the situation?"

Bingji gave a very specific answer. The emperor was very pleased. But the imperial censor was unable to provide a satisfactory answer all of a sudden and was reprimanded.

Forgiving others' faults often receives double compensation. Those who seek revenge are foolish.

From The Han History