King Xuan of Qi was a keen archer and liked to be told what a powerful bowman he was, although he could draw no bow heavier than thirty catties.
When he showed his bow to his attendants, they pretended to try to draw it, but merely bent it to half its full extent.
‘”Ibis must weigh at least ninety catties!” they all cried. ”None but Your Majesty could use such a bow.”
And at this the king was pleased. Though he only used a thirty-catty bow, till the end of his life he believed that it weighed ninety catties.
It was thirty in fact, and ninety merely in name; but for the sake of the empty name he sacrificed the truth.
Allegorical Meaning
This razor-sharp fable from Yin Wenzi dissects the corruption of power. The author Yin Wen (c. 360 – 280 BC) was a native of Qi and a renowned philosopher of the Warring States period. During the reign of King Xuan of Qi, he resided at Jixia Academy and was a representative figure of the Jixia School. The Jixia Academy made Qi a center of intellectual activity. Thinkers like Mencius and Xunzi once lectured there. For example, the philosopher Mencius once advised King Xuan of Qi on benevolent governance there.
The Deception Cascade
When the king could only draw weak bows but believed he pulled mighty bows, his courtiers pretended to struggle with his “mighty” bows. This illustrates how power distorts truth — subordinates become complicit in maintaining a leader’s false self-image to avoid repercussions, creating collective delusion.
The Competence Paradox
Ironically, the king could have mastered mighty bows through training (as later rulers did), but flattery robbed him of growth opportunities. This mirrors contemporary “fixed mindset” pitfalls where praise for perceived ability undermines actual skill development.
The Feedback Vacuum
It serves a warning about information silos in hierarchies when mechanisms for honest assessment lacked.
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