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The Loyalty of a Brother and Sister
The Loyalty of a Brother and Sister


One day in the year 397 BC the prime minister of the State of Han was tending to his official duties when a man rushed into the hall waving his arms and shouting, "I have an urgent message for the prime minister!" Before the guard could stop him he had reached the minister and stabbed him in the heart.

Then the assassin took the dagger and disfigured his own face.

The Duke of Han offered a large reward to anyone who could tell who the assassin was. The corpse was publicly displayed, but after seven days no one had recognised it or could suggest any motive for the killing.

The news spread quickly to neighbouring states. In the State of Wei, when a woman named Nie Ying heard it, she broke into tears. "That must be my brother Nie Zheng", she said to her husband. She bound her head with white silk in mourning and set out for Han. Arriving there the next day, she threw herself on the corpse and wailed. She was immediately arrested and questioned about the dead man. She had this tale to tell:

Nie Zheng , her brother, had gone to the State of Qi and earned a living as a butcher. There he was befriended by a man named Yan Zhonmgzi, who helped him get his business started, assisted him in supporting his mother, and provided a handsome dowry for Nie Ying when she married. Both brother and sister felt they owed Yan a lot.

Now it happened that in his younger days Yan Zhongzi had also befriended another man, the very Xia Lei who had become prime minister of Han. Yan had given a thousand ounces of gold to help him start his career. Xia Lei had gradually won favour in Han, but after becoming prime minister he turned against his benefactor, slandered him and had him sent into exile. Xia Lei was widely known for this ungrateful act.

Nie Zheng was shocked at the way the prime minister had treated Yan Zhongzi. He decided to avenge his friend. So as not to bring trouble to his mother, Nie Zheng waited until after she died, and then went up to assassinate Xia Lei.

"My brother and I are twins and look very much alike" said Nie Ying. "He was afraid that someone would recognise him and I would suffer. That was why he disfigured his face. But how can I let him, who performed such a heroic deed, lie unburied? I want the whole world to know of his devotion to his friend." After denouncing the prime minister she dashed her head against a stone pillar and killed herself.

The story of Nie Ying and her brother spread far and wide throughout Han and the neighbouring states. People sympathised with them. The Duke of Han, too, was impressed by her bravery and ordered that she and her brother be given a proper burial together. Their story was later recorded in several ancient books, the historian Sime Qian's Historical Records, The Strategy of the Warring States and Tales of Assassins.

Legend adapted from Shanghai on Internet

UPDATE[ 2007-10-28 ]    HIT[ 7999 ]
 
 
 
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