“The Biography of Yu Jang” was an incredible short biography of an incredibly loyal and honorable gentleman who was honor bound to bring justice to his former master, the earl of Chih. I found it incredibly telling that Yu Jang flew to the mountains to escape death, only to come back to Lord Hsiang’s land in attempt to repay his debt, in a manner of speaking. After running away to the mountains, i don’t think i would have tried to comeback in his situation. We learn later that Yu Jang made two attempts to attack lord Hsiang, and even lord Hsiang, who conspired with other nobleman to takeover the dead earl’s land, showed respect to this troubled man. Yu slashed the nobleman’s robes, and then after feeling that he had satisfied his debt, ‘fell down on his sword’.
If you ask me, i don’t really think we can find many people duty & honor bound to repay a debt in today’s day and age. This is especially the case I feel in modern day politics. I see many state politicians and even a neighbor of mine who successfully ran for the county treasury seat claim their successes as their own, even if they had help along the way or really could owe there success to someone. In the text, i found something really interesting that I will conclude with. “I’ve heard that an enlightened sovereign does not conceal the merits of a man, and a loyal servant has the duty to die for his name.” I loyalty in this regard incredibly different in today’s day and age, where loyalty has largely changed (in my view) from honor/duty to being bought out/honoring legal contracts. Maybe it’s an extreme view on my part, but this is just one man’s thoughts.