CHAPTER XII
FAITHFULNESS
Faithfulness is another of those things we admire, that are taught to Chinese boys and girls too. Many are the stories told to make the children honour faithful men and wish to be like them.
One of these tells of Luh Sin Fu, in the time of the Sung Dynasty. This faithful servant of his country, after refusing to be bought over by the Mongols who were then at war with China, was defeated in a sea-fight near Canton. His ships were scattered, and seeing that the hopes of the Sung rulers were lost, he took the baby heir of the throne and jumping overboard perished with him in the waves.
Chinese children are often reminded to be faithful by the books which they read at school: “Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.” “Daily I examine myself in regard to three things, whether in doing business for others I may have been unfaithful, whether I may have been insincere with my friends, whether I may not have laid to heart the teachings of my master;” and such lessons are made clear to their minds by the example of men and women praised for faithfulness in every district of the land.
A legend is told in Chinchew city of a family which became famous in the time of the Ming Emperors, through the faithfulness of one of its ancestors. This man, a Mr So, kept a wine-shop in East Street, not far from the magistrate’s Yamen. He was an honest citizen, who went about his business in a quiet, steady way. Among his customers was a middle-aged man, who used to go once a day to the shop to have his earthenware bottle filled with wine.
One day this regular customer brought a bundle, which he asked Mr So to keep for him, until he should call for it. Mr So willingly took the bundle, promising to take good care of it. From that moment the man came no more to Mr So’s shop. Days passed into months, months became years, and the familiar customer with his brown bottle was forgotten.
The incident of the bundle had passed out of memory when one day an old man entered the wine-shop and cast his eyes round the place.
“Are you Mr So?” he asked the owner.
“That is my unworthy name, venerable grand-uncle,” said Mr So. “What may I do for you?”