司馬光

A historical character who keeps flashing through my mind recently is Sima Guang (司馬光).

For those who have some background knowledge on the history of China, there are two famous stories related to this famous scholar of the Sung dynasty, and, what may skip your eyes is, they are self conflicting and should not happen to the same person.

The first incident took place when Sima Guang was a child. (Many of you may also have read it in the primary school days.) On one occasion, he was playing in the backyard with other children. There was a large water tank in the yard. One of the children climbed up to the tank and fell into the vat by accident. The tank was very deep and full of water, and the child soon drowned. The other children were all scared, crying and shouting. The only exception was Sima Guang, who was quick-witted and calm enough to pick up a large stone, hit the tank and break it. The poor child inside was saved that and there as the water was drained.

The lesson is simple: Sima Guang was kind of a person who conformed to no fixed rule and was willing to break a tradition.

In that case, why couldn't he get along with Wang Anshi (王安石)?