14 Gou Jian

Yue’s Emperor Known for His Unthinkable Revenge

An idiom “sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall” told of a story about Gou Jian’s revenge, the Eemperor of Yue State in the Spring & Autumn Period. Yue State (in Zhejiang Province) and Wu State (in Jiangsu Province) were neighboring feuds. Once in a battle, Wu’s emperor Fu Chai (?-473 BC) beat Yue troops and captured Yue’s emperor Gou Jian. Fu Chai, instead of killing Gou and his queen, decided to humiliate them by forcing them to be slaves to do contemptible works in Wu’s palace. Gou Jian did everything he could to show his loyalty to Fu Chai. Gou also ordered his former official Fan Li to hunt young girls offering to Fu as a tribute, among them Xi Shi was a history-famous beauty (see next piece). Three years later, Fu chai, released Gou Jian and his wife. Gou Jian planned to revenge as soon as he went back home. He worked out a schedule as “ten years of growing population and ten years of training”. He built up troops in a secret place in deep mountains. At night he slept on a heap of firewood, and in the morning when he waked up, he would at first lick a bitter gall-bladder that hung over his head. When he walked out of his bedroom, a guard soldier would shout loudly at him: “Gou Jian, do you forget your humiliations?” He would reply humbly: “No, Gou Jian dare not.” The uncommon story of Gou Jian “sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall” became an important idiom as well as a traditional heritage of Chinese nationality. The struggle finally ended up with Gou Jian defeating and killing Fu Chai and perishing Wu State.