A Cunning Strategy

Planting melons beneath the Huangtai terrace, their fruits ripen and hang in clusters.

The first harvest makes the melons thrive; the second leaves them sparse.

A third harvest is still bearable, but strip them bare and you will go home clutching only the vines.

Li Xian of the Tang dynasty, “Ode to the Huangtai Melons”

Theme: Blind filial obedience is not true filial piety!