White to play
This story is a little convoluted in that it comes in two unconnected stages.
The jade in question was a bi - a flat piece of jade with a round hole in it, used as a badge of rank or state seal. It started life as a precious object when a block of jadestone was discovered in the mountains of Jing Shan by Bian He in the state of Chu in the 8th century BC.
He decided to present it to his ruler but, when he did, a rival declared that it was not genuine and that Bian He was an imposter. As punishment his right foot was lopped off. When the next sovereign came to the throne, Bian He tried again to present the stone, but he was again repulsed and his left foot was taken off. When a third sovereign came to the throne, Bian He wept at the ruler's gate. Asked why, he replied that he wept not on account of his own terrible mutilation but because a true gem had been rejected and a loyal subject branded a deceiver. The king therefore had the stone properly tested, and it was found to be jade of the purest kind. Bian He was then offered a title of nobility, but he declined the honour.
This story is told in the Records of the Historian. The rejected stone is clearly a metaphor for a spurned but loyal minister. Whether any such event really occurred is open to doubt. However, this sort of punishment was not unusual, and a famous jade bi did exist.
We now need to fast forward a few centuries to the late 3rd century BC. The action shifts to the scene and time illustrated in the recent film Hero. The ever-rising state of Qin was threatening the state of Zhao, which had custody of the Bian He jade. The thuggish ruler of Qin demanded the jade but offered to give 15 cities in exchange.
Lin Xiangru was a minister of the Zhao sovereign, and his advice to King Hui was to give up the jade. Brave advice, as he was then told to go and deliver it. When Lin got to the Qin court, however, he realised that he was going to be tricked and so he refused to give up the jade. Although this led to scenes reminscent of a disputed penalty at the World Cup, Lin did not flinch and so managed to arouse the admiration of the Qin ruler. He was sent back home unharmed with an honour guard, and the King of Zhao also rewarded him by making him prime minister.
Quite what any of that has to do with this problem is a trifle obscure to say the least, though the meaning later associated with the Lin parable is returning something to its rightful owner. But such heroic and noble deeds by Bian He and Lin Xiangru, not to mention Han Chung-cheung, surely merit a really sustained effort to solve this problem? It has been rated as dan level by Takagi Shoichi 9-dan.
It appears in the Xuanxuan Qijing (Gateway to All Marvels), the 1347 Chinese classic. The original omits the two marked stones, which doesn't make much difference unless you really are a pedant. Modern editions tend to add one or both.
Answer on next page.