Kai Lung’s Golden Hours · Chapter
The Inopportune Behaviour of the Covetous Li-Loe explained
Kai Lung is visited by Li-loe, who persistently searches for a hidden cask of wine and demands a story.
What happens
Kai Lung is visited by Li-loe, who persistently searches for a hidden cask of wine and demands a story. To satisfy him, Kai Lung relates the tale of Wong Pao and the minstrel Kiau Sun, a dispute over the value of commerce versus art, resolved by Emperor N'ang Wei's clever judgment.
Themes in this chapter
The Power of Storytelling and Art
The embedded story of Wong Pao and the minstrel Kiau Sun highlights the value of art and storytelling, as Kiau Sun's profession is defended and ultimately triumphs through the Emperor's clever judgment.
Social Class and Hierarchy
The dispute between the merchant Wong Pao and the minstrel Kiau Sun reflects class tensions, with the Emperor's intervention reinforcing the power of the ruling class to mediate such conflicts.
Wisdom and Cunning
Emperor N'ang Wei uses a clever test to resolve the dispute, demonstrating wisdom and cunning in turning the situation to his advantage.
Characters to notice
- Kai Lung
Kai Lung is visited by Li-loe at the shutter and tells the story of Wong Pao and the minstrel to satisfy Li-loe's demand.
- Li-Loe
Li-loe persistently searches for a hidden cask of wine and demands a story from Kai Lung.
- Wong Pao
Wong Pao is the merchant in the embedded story who disputes with the minstrel Kiau Sun.
- Kiau Sun
Kiau Sun is the minstrel in the embedded story who defends the value of his art against the merchant Wong Pao.
- N'ang Wei
Emperor N'ang Wei appears in the embedded story, resolving the dispute between Wong Pao and Kiau Sun with a clever test.
Key passages
“What an added bitterness will assail your noble throat if, when you are led forth to die, your eye closes upon the one who has faithfully upheld your cause lying with a protruded tongue panting in the noonday sun.”
Li-loe threatens that if Kai Lung dies without revealing the wine's location, Li-loe will die of thirst, adding to Kai Lung's regret.
Li-loe uses a dramatic threat to pressure Kai Lung into revealing the hidden wine.
“To the starving, a blow from a skewer of meat is more acceptable than a caress from the hand of a maiden.”
A hungry person would prefer a harsh but nourishing gesture over a gentle but empty one.
Kiau Sun uses this proverb to justify his persistence despite Wong Pao's hostility.
“Death, a woman and a dumb mute always have the last word.”
Certain forces—death, women, and mutes—inevitably prevail in arguments.
Wong Pao reflects on the futility of arguing with the minstrel.
“Your labour only compels men to remember; mine enables them to forget.”
Commerce forces people to remember debts and transactions, while art allows them to escape their troubles.
Kiau Sun contrasts the burdens of commerce with the liberating power of art.