The story of Lian Bo (廉頗) andLin Xiangru ( 藺相如列傳) is from Sima Qian 's " The Records of the Grand Historian ( 史記)". The story tells of how Lian Bo, thegeneral ofthe state of Zhao, who was honored with the title of Minister of State at a meeting at the town of Tangchi, was indignant and said, "As a general ofthe state of Zhao, I have made great achievements in siege and victory in field battles, while Xiangru (藺相如) has only excelled in eloquence, and is actually ranked higher than I. Moreover, it is a great shame for me that I should be subordinate to him, since I come from a humble background. It would be a great shame for me to be subordinate to him, since he is from a humble background. So Lian Po declared that if he ever saw him, he would humiliate him.
The story of Lion Bo and Lin Zhongru is from Sima Qian Yi's The Records of the Grand Historian.
The story tells of how Lion Bo, the General of State of Zhao, who was honored with the title
of Minister of State at a meeting at the town of Tangji, was indignant and said,
As a General of State of Zhao, I have made great achievements in siege and victory in field
while Zhongru has only excelled in eloquence and is actually ranked higher than I.
Moreover, it is a great shame for me that I should be subordinate to him since I come from
a humble background. It would be a great shame for me to be subordinate to him since he is from
a humble background. So Lion Bo declared that if he ever saw him, he would humiliate him.
When he learned of this, he refused to meet with Lion Bo. He often claimed to be ill and
refused to go to the morning court. On one occasion, when he was leaving his house,
he saw Lion Bo in the distance and immediately changed his direction of travel to avoid him.
However, this was a shameful move, and his clients questioned him about his cowardice
and fearfulness. He had no choice but to say to them, Do you think General Lion is comparable to
the King of Qin? They answered, No. Then he said, Even with the power of the King of Qin,
I would dare to shout at him and humiliate his ministers in the great hall. Although I am not
a brave man, how can I be afraid of General Lion? In fact, I was only concerned about the state of
Zhao, because the reason why the strong Qin did not dare to attack Zhao was because of the presence
of the two of us. When two tigers fight, one of them will be hurt. If I openly fall out with
General Lion, Qin will surely take the opportunity to attack Zhao, and Zhao will be in danger.
The reason why I avoided General Lion so much is that national affairs are more important than
personal grudges. Upon learning of this, Lion bared his back and carried thorns on his back
to Zhang Ru's door to apologize. Lion Bo said, I am a lowly man, and I did not know that the
Chancellor was so generous, so I have come here to apologize. He accepted his apology,
and this was the famous carrying the thorns and asking for forgiveness.
