It’s bad when one deceives others; it’s stupid that one only fooled oneself when he tried to fool others. Lots of occasions in our everyday life, some people try to deceive others or disguise something by telling themselves the thing does not exist. And of cause, it could only fool themselves.

Two thousand years, Lü Buwei told a vivid story about one fooling himself.

“Confucius’s children did not know about swearing at others, and Zengzi’s children did not know about anger. This could only come about because the parents were good at teaching them.” Zengzi’s method of teaching his children has been admired throughout history.

Here is a well-known ancient story about Zeng Zi teaching children.

This famous story is not actually an “original” Chinese story. It was recorded in a Buddhism canon, so it is probably from India.

You might have heard various versions of this famous story. Here I am going to present the original version from the Buddhism canon. After that, I will add my little contribution to this classic fable story. Hope you will like it.

I have a college friend who is a big sports fan. “I Love Sports”, as he always introduces himself.

However, he only loves “watching” sports. When we try to ask him to join us playing basketball or soccer, he never does. He’d prefer to stay in the dorm to check the most recent news. I am sure you might know some people like him, too.

Today’s story is well presented in the short animated movie above. You might have already noticed its unique form — Ink and Wash Painting animated film. In 1960, ink-and-wash animated films appeared in China and caught the attention of the world as a breakthrough in the forms of expression and aesthetic conception in animated films.

The story told in this short film was told 2,200+ years ago in the Warring States Period. And it successfully prevented a deadly war between two states.