A Fair Trade: The Story of the Jade Treasure ~ Chinese

Short Story for Kids

A Fair Trade: The Story of the Jade Treasure ~ Chinese Short

Story for Kids
 

LET'S GO TO CHINA, OVER TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO. That

a time called the "Period of the Warring States." Seven kings from
seven different states warred fiercely with each other, each one
hungry to take the power and land from his neighbor.  From time to
time, the states grew tired of war.  In such times they sent
messengers to negotiate treaties of peace. Such times of peace
always felt uneasy for the people.  For they knew war could break
out at any time. The weakest of the seven states was Han, and the
strongest of the seven was Chu.
One day a court official who served at the smallest of the seven
states, the Kingdom of Han, purchased a beautiful piece of jade
from a stranger. When the court official took it to a jade expert to
have it appraised, the expert said, "This is no ordinary piece of jade
that you brought to me. This is none other than the legendary Jade
Treasure! Do you see its marvelous color? There's no piece of jade in
all the carved vases, bowls, or ornaments of any palace of any king
that compares to this stone. And the Jade Treasure has other
virtues, too. It can shine in the dark. It can keep a room warm in
winter and cool in summer. It even repels insects. You must always
guard this - indeed, this is a magnificent, priceless treasure!"
News travels fast.  The King of Han heard of the wonderful Jade
Treasure that had been obtained by one of his court officials, and
sent word that he wanted to see it. The court official was worried
when he heard this. Surely the King of Han would find a way to take
it away from him. Perhaps he should escape with the jade treasure
before the day he was supposed to go see the King?
"That would not be wise, sir," said one of his houseguests, a young
man named Gan. "The King will surely hunt you down. You will lose
the stone and your life, too. Instead, I suggest you offer the Jade
Treasure to the King outright, as a gift."
So the court official offered the King of Han the wonderful Jade
Treasure. The King was delighted with the magnificent stone and
promoted the court official to be chamberlain of the royal court.
Soon the King of Chu, whose land was the strongest of the seven
states, heard that the King of Han had in his possession the
legendary Jade Treasure.
"I cannot believe this!" cried the King of Chu. "We are the strongest
state - we should have this matchless stone for our own! Send a
message at once to the King of Han that he must sell it to me and
that I will pay 15 cities for it."
"Fifteen cities?" said one of his mandarins in surprise. "That is quite
a lot - a generous price to pay!"
"Not at all," smiled the King of Chu, stroking his beard. "The envoy
from Han will bring us the jade. Once we have it, who will
remember if we ever said anything about 15 cities? And if we don't
deliver the 15 cities after we have the jade, what can Han do about
it, anyway?"
"Ah, yes!" said the mandarin. He hastened to do the king's bidding.
Now when the King of Han received the message from the King of
Chu with the demand that he must sell the stone for the price 15
cities, he was worried. Certainly fifteen cities was a good price.  But
what if the King of Chu simply kept the precious stone and didn't
deliver the cities as promised? What choice would that leave the
King of Han? If he protested that the King of Chu had broken his
word, that could easily be an excuse for the King of Chu to invade
the Kingdom of Han, and that's a war that his kingdom could not
win against the mighty Chu. On the other hand, was he to just hand
over his wonderful new national treasure?
As he was debating the pros and cons of the troubling situation, his
newly promoted chamberlain said, "Sir, my houseguest Gan has
proved in the past to be wise beyond his years. Allow me to summon
him and let's hear his advice."
So Gan was summoned.
"My glorious King," answered Gan, "the stone must be surrendered
for the good of your subjects. Otherwise the King of Chu will invade
us and destroy us. Yet we need not despair. Let me be your envoy.
Entrust the Jade Treasure to my care. May my life be forfeited if I
do not return the jewel to you, if the King of Chu refuses to keep his
word."
So Gan's journey would have the best luck possible, the entire court
fasted for three days, as was the custom in those times to launch a
journey with the most favorable prospects.  At the end, they hosted
a grand feast to as a send-off to his journey to the kingdom of Chu.
The young man Gan, with great reverence, wrapped the Jade
Treasure in an embroidered silk covering, tucked it inside an even
richer silk pouch, and placed the silk pouch in a pocket inside his
robe.
Accompanied by a noble train of attendants, he set out on his
journey. When he arrived at the kingdom of Chu, the King
welcomed him and his entourage.  They were entertained and
feasted with all honor.
When the time came for Gan to present the Jade Treasure to the
King of Chu, the young man approached the throne, took out the
richly embroidered silk covering, unwrapped the priceless Jade
Treasure and offered it to the King of Chu to examine. The stone
gleaned and shone with mesmerizing radiance. After admiring the
Jade Treasure, the King of Chu passed it onto his officials who
immediately congratulated him for securing such a priceless gem.
The King of Chu ordered his servant to take the Jade Treasure to his
other court attendants and show it to them.
Gan waited for a long time. He waited and waited. But the Jade
Treasure was not returned to the king's table. No mention had been
made of the 15 cities.
Seeing that the King of Chu had mentioned nothing about the 15
cities, Gan said, "Sire, there is a flaw in the Jade Treasure. Please
allow me to show it to you."
The King of Chu quickly ordered his servant to bring the jade back
to Gan.
Once the stone was safely in Gan's hands, he took several steps
backward until he was next to a pillar. "We came in good faith," he
said, "because you offered Han fifteen cities. My king fasted for
three days and set me off with a grand ceremony to take the Jade
Treasure to you. If you are acting in good faith, you, too, will fast for
three days and arrange a grand ceremony for me to hand over this
Jade Treasure to you before all your court. If not, I will smash this
pillar with the stone right now. I will be destroyed, so will you, and
so will the Jade Treasure!"
The King rushed forward, "What is this rash talk? Of course we were
planning a ceremony just as the one you describe. We were already
planning to fast for three days, then to have the ceremony."
Each morning for the next three days, the King of Chu sent a
servant to check that Gan still held the Jade Treasure. In the
meantime, Gan sent one of his attendants in disguise to see what
was really going on in the palace. He found out that there was no
fast at all, but a mad scrambling to make preparations for the
hastily arranged ceremony. On the morning of the event, after the
servant of the King of Chu had checked to see that Gan still had the
Jade Treasure, Gan sent his most trusted servant back home with
the stone.
At the event, when it came time for Gan to hand over the wonderful
Jade Treasure, he said, "O King, surely you must understand our
hesitation when we came in good faith with the wonderful Jade
Treasure and you did not even talk about the 15 cities as promised.
Your state is strong; ours is weak. I had no choice but to send my
attendant back to Han with the Jade Treasure. No doubt he is
already halfway back home."
All gasped. "This is an outrage!" cried the King of Chu, jumping up.
"We fasted for three days and planned this ceremony just as you
said. Now you tell us you are not keeping your side of the bargain!"
"Kill me if you wish," said Gan. "My life is in your hands. Only know
that I am the only one who knows the route my attendant has taken
and can direct you to him if you choose. If you want to bring with
you the deeds to the 15 cities I will accompany you to my attendant
now. He will give you the Jade Treasure and you can deliver the
deeds to the cities at the same time. If this is not agreeable to you,
pour me into a cauldron of boiling oil if you wish. Let the other
states decide who was right and who was wrong when they hear you
have executed the messenger from the smallest kingdom of Han."
The King of Chu knew that killing Gan could inflame the other
states to team up and make to war against him. Though his state
was no doubt the strongest of the seven and would surely defeat the
small kingdom of Han in battle, if several other states were to joined
in a combined effort against him, who could tell what the result
would be? Besides, he didn't have the 15 deeds of the cities ready
because, as he had never intended to deliver them, they had never
been prepared.
Thinking quickly, the King of Chu laughed.  He said, "Ah, you must
know that I planned this entire affair as a test to see how your state
would react. I had no intention of killing you, of course, or even
ending up with that silly piece of jade.  I wanted only to see the
quality of how your kingdom of Han handles negotiations. You have
performed honorably, congratulations! Stay for our banquet - we
have a fine feast prepared in any event - and return in peace to your
homeland tomorrow."
The royal court thought the King of Chu very clever for staging this
test on Han, not realizing that the king had been caught short and
had thought of the test on the spot. But that was not as clever as the
King of Han thought of Gan, when his attendant returned safely
with the Jade Treasure and when, days later, Gan returned safely as
well. The King of Han quickly promoted Gan to the rank of highest
court official, where he served with distinction for the rest of his
days.
The King of Han never received the 15 cities that were promised by
the King of Chu. And so of course the King of Chu never received the
magnificent Jade Treasure.