The Officials Who Died of Hunger Asked

"The Hungry Officials" uses two absurd anecdotes by Sima Zhong, Emperor Hui of the Western Jin Dynasty, to cut through the corrupt core of the feudal dynasty. When reports of hungry people everywhere in Guanzhong and people dying of hunger reached the palace, Sima Zhong, who was sitting on the dragon throne, frowned and asked: "The people have no corn to satisfy their hunger, so why not eat minced meat?" This innocent to cruel question showed the emperor's complete alienation from the suffering of the people. And when the palace heard the noise of toads at night, he asked the people around him with great interest: "Is the person making this noise an official? Is it private?" Between the wails of the hungry and the extravagance of the powerful, these two questions are like a mirror, reflecting the illusion of imperial power, the numbness of the bureaucracy, and the absurdity and cold-bloodedness of the entire ruling class in the face of the suffering of the people. By amplifying historical details, the novel tears apart the tender veil of the feudal dynasty and exposes its corrupt and dark nature to the world.