Li Ling, a famous general during the rein of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), led his troop to attack the Huns. The general won a lot of battles after penetrating the territory of the Huns, but later failed and surrendered after his troop was severely beset by the Hun troop. Hearing the news, Emperor Wu was irritated, and the ministers also condemned Li Ling was incapable and disloyal.
Sima Qian, a renowned historian in the Chinese history, was wordless while others violently blamed Li Ling. Emperor Wu asked how he looked at Li Ling’s surrender. Sima Qian told the truth: Li Ling only had 5,000 infantries, but was besieged by 80,000 cavalrymen; even in face of such an adversity, General Li still fought against the Huns for more than ten days, and killed over 10,000 enemy soldiers; so he was really an outstanding general; at last, General Li had to stop fighting when he used up his supply and got blocked from withdrawal; Li Ling might pretend to surrender so as to wait for an opportunity to be loyalty to the nation.
Hearing the historian official defend the failing general, Emperor was so angry to put him to prison. To flatter the emperor, Du Zhou, the supreme judicial official, said Sima Qian was guilty of framing the emperor, and imposed the cruelest and most insulting penalty—Fuxing (castration) on Sima Qian.
After suffering such an insulting penalty, Sima Qian was so painful that he wanted to kill himself. However, he finally gave up the thought, considering his death was just like “a hair shed from nine bulls” in the eyes of many people, and nobody would care, so he would be mocked rather than having their sympathy. Therefore, he made up his mind to bear the insult and leave his life to complete Shi Ji (Historical Records), the lifelong wish of both his father and himself. In the end, he completed the greatest historical masterpiece —Shi Ji —in China with his disabled body.
This story is extracted from A Letter to Answer Shaoqing Ren (Shaoqing refers to a senior position), and this proverb is used to describe something that is a tiny part of many things, just like a hair on nine bulls.
