About 1,300 years ago and during the Tang Dynasty, there was a child prodigy by the name of Li Mi. When he was seven years old, emperor Tang Xuan Zong summoned him to the palace to test his talent. When the child was brought in, the emperor was having a Chinese chess game with a Revered Mr Zhang.
Zhang then said to Li Mi: “A square is like a chess board;A circle is like a chess piece;To move is to activate the chess pieces; andTo stay put means the chess pieces are dead.”
Li Mi , who later in his life became an advisor to the emperor, was then asked to explain the principles of playing a chess game using the words ‘a square, a circle, to move and to stay put’, of which he recited:
“A square is like speaking out from a sense of justice;
A circle is like being comprehensive and encompassing;
To move is like presenting one’s talent; and
To stay put is like having understood matters thoroughly.”
The rhyme of Li Mi carries the message that when one speaks the truth and has empathy, one is brimful of talent well-nurtured. It is incredible that such a young boy could read the ways of the world so thoroughly.
17 November 2009
Wow, that was deep thinking.....
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