Ancient Tales of Wisdom

A Loyal and Dutiful Son

Cui Main, a poet from Tang Dynasty, was a high ranking official at various levels during his lifetime. He was well known for being a loyal and dutiful son, an incorruptible official, and the head of a household that was ruled by laws and principles. His behavior became the standard for the intellectuals. His son and grandson both became prime ministers. His family was called the family of prime ministers. Let’s just look at some of his conduct as a loyal and dutiful son.

Cui Mian was a loyal and dutiful son since he was very young. His father died when Cui Mian was very small. His mother was so sad and cried so much that her vision was severely damaged. Cui sold all the valuables in the family and sought a cure for his mother but failed. His mother eventually became blind.

After his mother became blind, Cui Mian took very good care of her every day, lovingly and respectfully, for 30 years. He managed every detail of his mother’s daily living so well that his mother lived a very comfortable life.

When the weather was nice and the scenery was pleasing to the eyes, Cui would escort his mother outside so she could have some fresh air. Even though she could not see, Cui would vividly describe nature and the surroundings to his mother. He would also tell her about current events and interesting news to help ease the loneliness of old age. His mother forgot her blindness and enjoyed the happy moments.

As Cui got older, his position was also getting higher. In order to have fresh fruit for his mother, he led his sons and nephews in planting many fruit trees, including peaches, plums, tangerines and others, in the yard. After his mother passed away, Cui vowed to repay his mother by being a vegetarian. Because of Cui Mian’s noble character, he was promoted to be a very high ranking official eventually.

In Chengdu City, there are many stories about Cui’s loyalty to his mother. One of them goes, there was a pond in front of Cui’s house and a winding road near by. One night, when they were eating dinner, they heard a lot of loud noise. It turned out that a child had accidentally fallen into the pond in the darkness. Fortunately, someone rescued the child in time. When he came back to report to his mother, she said, “Hang a lantern on the tree tomorrow! The road is narrow and the night is dark, with a lantern no one should fall into the pond again.”

Cui said that the oil for the lantern was quite expensive. His mother said that they could save money on some other areas. Cui was a loyal son, so he followed his mother’s wish. Next evening, there was a lantern hanging on the tree. Everyone was very touched. Knowing that Cui was quite poor, many people donated oil for the lantern and since then no one fell into the pond again.

Cui studied hard and grew vegetables for a living. Later he passed the exam and became an official. However, he rarely forgot about his mother and often accompanied her to go out and have fun. One day they ate in a restaurant and his mother asked what she was eating. Cui said, “These are bamboo shoots.”

“They are delicious,” she replied.

In order to supply his mother with delicious bamboo shoots, Cui hired someone to plant bamboo in front of the pond and surrounded them with fruit trees. No matter how high his rank was, he was grateful to his mother for raising him.

After his mother died, Cui returned home and kept an eye on his mother’s grave. Every year on Memorial Day, he brought bamboo shoots to his mother’s grave. People were very moved by his pure and loving heart. People named the pond “Bamboo Shoot Pond” to commemorate his being a loving son.

Later Cui Mian’s son became the prime minister of Emperor Tang Te Zhong and his grandson became the prime minister of Emperor Tang Mu Zhong. Everyone believed that the prosperity of Cui Mian’s offspring came from his loving heart and kind deeds.