| | Yu Lizzi saw someone wearing a withered lotus robe and treading on snow. He felt deeply moved and sorrowful, shedding tears that soaked his sleeves. His attendant asked, "Master, why are you so sad?" Yu Lizzi said, "I am grieving for this person who is on the verge of death and no one can show compassion." The attendant said, "Master's concern is indeed great, but it is not Master's responsibility. Why then does Master grieve?" "You are mistaken, Master." Yu Lizzi said, "Have you not heard of Yi Yin?" Yi Yin was a sage of ancient times. If he thought that even one person in the world did not receive his blessings, he would feel ashamed as if being beaten in public. "He is a human being, and I am also a human being. He can do it, but I cannot—how could there not be sorrow?" The attendant said, "If so, then Master is indeed mistaken!" Yi Yin found Tang and served as his prime minister. Tang, with a state of only seventy li in size, governed the world; he had people and military forces at his disposal, held the authority to wage war, became ruler of all under heaven, while Yi Yin was his teacher. Therefore, if one has the opportunity but does not act, Yi Yin would consider it a disgrace. Now Master is merely a traveler in exile; the deeds of Yi Yin are not within Master's responsibility. Why, then, does Master grieve?" Moreover, I have heard that the people are the innocent children of Heaven; their life and death, joys and sorrows, are actually governed by Heaven. It is like a person who owns cattle and sheep; if one truly loves them, he must certainly seek for them a good shepherd. "Nowadays there are no capable shepherds for the world; even if Master knows how to shepherd, Heaven does not allow him to do so. Even though Master grieves, what can he do about it?" Yu Lizzi met someone and sang, saying: "There are paulownia trees on that hillside, and lotuses in this marsh. The leaves do not shelter their roots; alas, what can be done!" Yu Lizzi returned home and thereafter remained silent, no longer discussing worldly affairs.
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