This was a nice place but there lived a wicked woman. She lived along the Huang He—a place that was better for crops—and destroyed everything. She killed animals, crops, and everything people would have loved. She wouldn’t admit this, but her son lived a little more than 150 kilometers away from her. He lived near the great wall, where a barrier wall was set near Northern China to protect them from invaders. She loved him dearly.
Confucius watched what she did. His students tried to make the wicked woman a better person, but it was useless. She beat them off with a stick, nearly killing them. Then that day, a new threat loomed. Invaders from the north were threatening China. That was the Zhou Dynasty. Their ruler was strict. Some people of the Shang Dynasty were killed and everybody experienced some kind of tragedy going on. Everyone turned to the wicked woman. Her name was not to be said, but they lead a march with her name. “Please help us, please help us!” People knew she was cruel, but they knew she was powerful. They crowded around her home. “Please help us, please help us! Please help us, please help us!” She couldn’t take it anymore. “GO AWAY!” she said, and took out the bow from the Shang Dynasty as a symbol of unity. She shot everyone around her.
Confucius visited the woman the next day. He said to stop being a bad person. He said if she is nice, everyone would like her. “No,” she replied. “I really don’t care if no one likes me. I don’t have anybody who likes me anyway.” Confucius left, spying on her. The next 30 days, her house burned down. Her son died. In addition, her husband died, and someone shot her. At last, she understood what pain and sadness meant. “What you do not wish done to yourself done to yourself, do not do to others,” Confucius said to his students, “or you’ll turn...