A Word Carrying the Weight of Nine Tripods

During the Warring States Period, Qin troops besieged Handan, the capital of Zhao State. The situation was quite critical, so King Xiaocheng of Zhao State sent Lord Pingyuan to go to Chu State to ask for help.

Lord Pingyuan intended to take 20 hangers-on with him, and he had already chose 19. Only one person hadn't been decided. Then Mao Sui volunteered to go to Chu State. Lord Pingyuan was dubious about him, but he still took Mao Sui together reluctantly.

When they arrived in Chu State, Lord Pingyuan began to negotiate over the reinforcements from Chu for quite a long time, but reached nothings. Then Mao Sui said to the King of Chu,“We come to ask for an ally, but you never say a word. Don't forget that although Chu State is large and strong, you still suffered defeat by defeat so as to make the capital be occupied. In my opinion, Chu needs the union even more urgently than Zhao!” The King of Chu was convinced by Mao Sui, and sent his troops to help Zhao.

When Lord Pingyuan returned to Zhao, he sighed with emotion,“When Mr. Mao arrived in Chu, he made our Zhao State value more than nine tripods.”

The idiom“A Word Carrying the Weight of Nine Tripods” originates from this story. It is used to indicate the importance of one's words or the authority of the speaker whose few words count.

We should develop our own prestige from now on. Only in this way shall we play a very important part in the society in the future.