Take 5 – 18 April 2016 by Mdm Cai Xiaona

Good morning Gessians,

This term, the school values we are focusing is Resilience. I am a Chinese teacher. So in Chinese, what does Resilience mean? Does anybody know? …………..

As one of the word written on the school banner, resilience means “毅”， or “坚毅”、“百折不挠”。That means no matter how many difficulties or setbacks we may encountered in life, we will not give up trying.

You have heard a lots of stories about resilience. Today, I am going to share a Chinese story. It is one of the most famous stories in Chinese history, which happens during the spring – autumn and warring states periods (春秋战国时期), around 494B.C.

State of Yue was defeated by state of Wu. The king of Yue, Gou Jian, was surrounded by many warriors. At first, he wanted to kill himself, but was stopped by his advisor Wen Zhong. Because if he died, his people would also suffered. In the end, he accepted Wen Zhong’ advice, and surrendered to the King of Wu, Fu Chai.

In so doing, he saved his people from continuous war; but Fu Chai, took Gou Jian to Wu, and made him his personal slave. Try imagining the humiliation Gou Jian had to endure from being a King to becoming a slave?

After three years, Gou Jian was released. After he returned to his country, he forced himself to sleep on a bed made of hay. Every night before he slept, he would taste a gallbladder hanging in his house. When his subordinate asked him the reason for doing so, he answered, “to remind me of the years of humiliation suffered in State of Wu as a slave”. There is a Chinese idiom for the story, do you know what is it? …….Yes, It is called “卧薪尝胆＂.

After ten years of hard work, he strengthened his state and finally defeated Yue in 482 B.C.

This story is a very good example of Resilience. If Gou Jian chose to kill himself, he would never had a chance to succeed ten years later.

What can we learn from this story? We will experience difficulties or unhappiness from time to time in our lives. We must be resilient and be brave to face up to difficulties. Only then, we will overcome our difficulties, and in the process, become a better and stronger person.

Oral exams will begin this week for our Sec 4 students. I hope all of you will do your very best and achieve your personal goal.

Thank you!