During the Warring States Period in China, the king of Qi was a music lover. He especially likes the ensemble of the wind instrument "Yu" made of bamboo and wood. Therefore, he hired more than 300 musicians from various states to form his royal band. When a man named Nan Guo knew this, he pretended to play Yu and became a member of the band, even though he was not good at playing this instrument.

The king called his band to play for him and his ministers in the palace every day. And magnificent music.

Made him very happy. But he didn't know that one of his players, Mr. Nan Guo, didn't make any sound at all. All he did was sit in the queue and pretend to play jade with others. He's never touched it.

Mr. Nan Guo continued his tricks until the old king died and his son succeeded to the throne. The new king is also a fan of Yu, but he prefers solo to ensemble. He ordered the musicians to play one by one in front of him. Mr. Nan Guo realized that there was no place for him, and he left the State of Qi.

Writer's comments:

This story comes from the article Han Feizi Neichu Shang, in which the author advises the rulers to listen to the opinions of all people and not to be deceived by the apparent harmony.

Nowadays, people use the idiom "Lan Shu" to describe the situation where true and false are mixed. But sometimes, you can also hear people say this about themselves to show modesty.