The ancient Chinese philosopher and educator Confucius often traveled through all the states in order to give publicity to his theories.
One day, he took his carriage and went out on one of these journeys. Seeing a child in the middle of the road all of a sudden, he immediately asked the driver to halt. Confucius said to the child, “Can you please give way to my carriage?” The child pointed to the road, saying, “Can’t you see that there is a castle here?”
Confucius looked where the child pointed and saw a small castle made of mud. The child continued, “I only heard that marriages move around a castle. I’ve never
heard that a castle should give way to traffic.”
Confucius was much surprised and said admiringly, “At such a young age, you seem to know quite a lot.”
The kid raised his head and looked directly at Confucius. He said, “I heard fish can swim as soon as they are born. Rabbits can run on the third day after birth. All these are natural phenomena. Age doesn’t make a difference.” Hearing this, Confucius felt the child’s words were reasonable and said emotionally, “Oh, youngsters today are really remarkable.”
Confucius asked the carriage driver to bypass the child’s castle.
This Chinese idiom is excerpted from TheAnalects. It means that even a child is to be regarded with respect. The younger generation, full of youthful spirit, will often surpass their elders.
