The city of Dingzhou was surrounded by the Tartar army. Sun Yangao, the prefect, was so frightened he no longer appeared at his official quarters, but shut himself in his private house and had the door bolted. Official documents were passed through a tiny window.
When he learned that the Tartars had scaled the ramparts, he hurried to hide himself in a large wooden chest, saying to his servant, ”Lock it from the outside, keep the key and don’t give it to the robbers when they ask for it!”
Allegorical Meaning
This darkly comic tale of Governor Sun Yangao hiding in a wooden cupboard during an enemy attack, even ordering his servant to lock him in, serves as a devastating allegory for cowardice, dereliction of duty, self-delusion, and the absurdity of escapism in leadership.
Sun Yangao is just like an ostrich who would bury the head in sand to avoid danger or unpleasant realities.
The story serves as a stark warning against placing power in the hands of the fearful and inept, and a reminder that true leadership requires confronting challenges, not hiding from them in a wooden box.
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