Gao Zhen Wu You

Literal Meaning: shake up the pillow and sleep in peace

Metaphorical Meaning: live without any worries

In the Warring States Period (475 – 221 BC), in the State of Qi lived a nobleman named Tian Wen. People got used to calling him Meng Changjun. He invited 3,000 guests into his house and fed them with his own money. He divided these people into three classes based on their abilities. The upper class could enjoy fish and meat every day and could ride in carriages; the middle class had fish and vegetables every day while the low class only had vegetables.

One day, one of Meng Changjun’s friends introduced a man named Feng Yuan to him. Meng Changjun asked his friend: “What kinds of abilities does this guy have?” His friend thought for a while and said: “It seems that he has no special abilities.” On hearing that, Meng Changjun decided to ignore Feng Yuan. Seeing their master like this, the servants all believed that Meng Changjun looked down upon Feng Yuan and treated him in the way of the low class guests.

Feng Yuan felt unhappy and complained: “Since everyone looked down upon me, I’d better leave!” After hearing this, Meng Changjun began to treat Feng Yuan in the way of the upper class guests and sent food and clothing to Feng Yuan’s mother. Feng Yuan was quite moved and thought: “I will pay back for him since he treated me so well.”

One day, Meng Changjun sent Feng Yuan to a place to dun in a place named Xue. Feng Yuan told people living there that Meng Changjun cleared their debts and they didn’t have to pay them which greatly cheered them up. Later, Meng Changjun was removed from his post in the State of Qi and went to Xue for refuge. The people there all gave him their warmest welcome.

After a while, Feng Yuan told Meng Changjun: “A rabbit needs three holes to hide him in order to avoid being killed by the hunter. Now you are living in Xue, just like a rabbit having one hole. It is still quite dangerous. In case that our Lord wanted to kill you, you would have no place to hide.” Meng Changjun asked him what to do. Feng Yuan answered: “I can do this for you if you trust me.” Then he came to the State of Liang and persuaded the Lord of Liang to invite Meng Changjun to be his prime minister.

The news came to the State of Qi and struck the nerve of the Lord of Qi. He immediately invited Meng Changjun back to his court. At the same time, Feng Yuan told Meng Changjun to build an ancestral temple in Xue. When it was finished, Feng told Meng Changjun: “Now the three holes are all ready. You can shake up your pillow and sleep in peace without any worries.”