King Juang of Country Wey married Jane, a princess of Country Chyi. She was
beautiful but had no son. A Poet in Country Wey wrote a poem called "Elegant Woman" to
express his sympathy for her. The king married a second wife L, a woman from
Country Chern. She gave birth to Prince S who died young. L's maid D gave birth
to Prince Hwan. Jane treated Hwan like her own son.
Prince Jou was born to a mistress of King Juang. Jou loved military affairs. The
king did not discourage him. Jane disliked Jou.
Official Stone advised the king, "One who loves his son will teach him to be
virtuous rather than allow him to be taken in by evil. Conceited, extravagance,
hedonism, and and self-indulgence are the roots of evil. These four
characteristics result from being spoiled by one's parents. If you want to
establish Jou as heir, you should do it now. Otherwise, he will cause a
disaster later. There are few people who are able to be humble despite being
spoiled by their parents, persevere despite encountering difficulties, remain
calm while being treated unfairly, and be patient despite their anger. Letting
the low disrespect the high, the young bully the old, a stranger turn friends against each other, a newcomer turn the old against each other, a few
enslave the multitude, evil destroy moral standards are the six ways of
reversing the social orders. The king should be virtuous; Officials should be
obedient; a father should be kind; a son should be filial; an elder brother
should befriend his younger brother; a younger brother should respect his elder
brother- these are the six morals. To discard morals and imitate those who reverse
the social order will quickly result in disaster. A country's leader should
eliminate the possible causes of a disaster. Now you have hastened the disaster.
Do you think this is appropriate?” King Juang ignored the warning.
Stone's son, Hou, befriended Jou. Stone tried to prevent them from seeing
each other, but the attempt was in vain. After Prince Hwan inherited the throne, Stone decided
to retire.
Prince Jou was spoiled by King Juang. Stone told the king the correct way to
raise Prince Jou, but the king ignored his advice. After King Juang died, Prince
Hwan inherited the throne. In 719 B.C., Jou murdered his brother, King Hwan. That
same year Jou was killed by a fellow countryman. This royal tragedy resulted from
King Juang's overindulgence of Prince Jou.