Another Interpretation of King Gou Jian's "Long Neck and Beak-shaped Mouth": A Reference to the Teleplay Goujian Monarch of the Kingdom of Yue

Gou Jian(520?B.C.-465 B.C.),Monarch of the Kingdom of Yue during the Eastern Zhou dynasty(770 B.C.-221 B.C.) famous for his legendary conquering of the Kingdom of Wu and becoming an overlord among all vassals,has long been attacked as a long neck and a beak-shaped mouth,indicating an insidious man with whom one could share woe but not weal.An in-depth study of the history shows,however,that,while the conflict between the two kingdoms was inevitable,Gou Jian's conquering of his neighboring kingdom proves beneficial to the people in both kingdoms as well as to the then international situation,thereby justifying his act of war.As to his execution of Wen Zhong(? B.C.-467 B.C.),one of his most important aids who had helped him defeat his enemy,a year after Wen refused to fulfill his duty as an official,it is attributed to many complicated factors,far beyond a simple matter of his insidious appearance.According to the history,King Gou Jian had nothing that could not be shared with others.The insightful discussions on Fan Li(517 B.C.-448 B.C.) and Wen Zhong made by some outstanding scholars later in the history,such as Han Yu(768-824),Su Shi(1037-1101) and Wang Ruoxu(1174-1243),merit our attention today,as they suffice for telling a true story of what happened in the history.