{"id":150764,"date":"2010-01-02T18:33:08","date_gmt":"2010-01-02T16:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/espirited.com\/the-thief-in-the-state-of-chi\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T17:58:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T15:58:07","slug":"the-thief-in-the-state-of-chi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/espirited.com\/en\/the-thief-in-the-state-of-chi\/","title":{"rendered":"The Thief and the General: an alchemical tale"},"content":{"rendered":"

A very alchemical tale with a commentary from Benjamin Hoff\u2019s<\/em> The Tao of Pooh<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the state of Chu, a thief became a soldier under General Wu Tzu-fa, a man renowned for his remarkable ability to make use of other people\u2019s capacities. After some time, Chu was attacked by the army of Qi. In response, Wu Tzu-fa\u2019s men rushed to attack, but they were repelled three times.<\/p>\n

While the strategists of Chu were wondering what to do, the enemy\u2019s forces kept growing. At that moment, the thief stepped forward and asked to be given the chance to do something for the defense of Chu. The general accepted his request.<\/p>\n

At night, the thief slipped into the camp of Qi, entered the general\u2019s tent, and unhooked the curtains of his bed. In the morning, Wu Tzu-fa sent them back by special messenger with a note explaining that they had been found by some people who were gathering firewood.<\/p>\n

The next day, the thief took the general of Qi\u2019s pillow. In the morning, it too was returned with a note similar to the first.<\/p>\n

On the third night, the thief stole the general\u2019s jade hairpin. In the morning, it was returned.<\/p>\n

That day, the general of Qi gathered his officers and warned them: \u2018Next night they will take my head!\u2019 The army was ordered to break camp and return home.<\/p>\n

So there is no skill that is too useless, too improper, or too insignificant. It depends on what you do with it\u2026<\/p>\n

The bad can be the raw material for the good.<\/strong> Sometimes you will find that certain traits you stubbornly try to eliminate later return in some form. But if you do the right things, they will return in the right way. And sometimes precisely those tendencies you hate the most can reveal themselves in their true light and somehow save your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

*Translation from Bulgarian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A very alchemical tale with a commentary from Benjamin Hoff\u2019s The Tao of Pooh \u201cIn the state of Chu, a thief became a soldier under General Wu Tzu-fa, a man renowned for his remarkable ability to make use of other people\u2019s capacities. After some time, Chu was attacked by the army of Qi. In response, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":149372,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[648],"tags":[671,652,653],"class_list":["post-150764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-emotional-intelligence","tag-alchemy","tag-healing-stories","tag-how-changes-happen"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t