Wu Xia A Meng

In the Three-Kingdom Period， there was a general named Lu Meng in the State of Wu. Even though he was an experienced general， his long-term military career left him little time for cultural education. Therefore， he was in extreme lack of knowledge and usually made fool of himself when he was talking to scholars， ministers， nobles and other well-educated persons.

Sun Quan， the ruling lord of the State of Wu， saw Lu Mengs disgrace and thought it necessary to change this. Therefore， he summoned Lu Meng to his palace and talked to him in private. “Now that you have the administrative power， you need to start learning immediately to avoid being disgraced in front of the public again.”

Lu Meng said that he had no time to study because he was very busy with military affairs. Sun Quan answered： “I did not ask you to study into the Confucian classic books to be an expert in this field. You only need to scan them to know about the history. You said that you were busy， but are you busier than me？ I read a lot of books in my spare time because I think it very useful.”

Taking his lords advice， Lu Meng began to study. When his co-minister Lu Su came to visit him， Lu Meng talked with him about the etiquette and strategies. His profound understanding of them surprised Lu Su very much. He said： “Your present skills and capabilities in political and military strategies are quite impressive. I am surprised to see your progress in such a short time. You are no longer the Lu Meng that I knew before.”endprint