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Title: A childs inclination custom Author: Unknown No of page: 2

During the Three Kingdoms Period, the crown prince suddenly died of an illness. Th

emperor was at a loss. He did not know what to do because there was a struggle for th

position among his other princes. He was in a dilemma. He called his most trusted minister

Jin Yang.

Jin Yang, whom do you think I should appoint as my successor? asked the emperor.

Your Majesty, whom you appoint will have far-etching efforts on the state. It is no

good enough to appoint a successor with good morality and kindness alone. The qualities tha

his son possesses are of utmost importance too, replied Jin Yang.

The emperor broke into a smile. He picked an auspicious day and summoned all hi

princes to bring their children to the palace for a test. All his ministers were also summone

to court to witness the test. When everyone was ready, Jin Yang took out a platter filled with

peals, ivories, rhino horns, books, scrolls, ribbons and many more. He then explained to them

After that, the children were put on the floor and the platter was placed before them.

The children were excited. They grabbed the items that attracted them. Some too

pieces of jade, some took the ivory and others. Only Sun Hes son, Sun Hao took the bambo

scroll and the ribbon. The emperor was extremely happy. He picked up Sun Hao and wa

about to name him the crown prince but the other princes protested. The emperor was force

to name Sun Liang as his successor. However, three years later, Sun Liang was forced to

abdicate in favour of his elder brother, Sun Xiu. Sun Xiu only became the emperor for sevenyears.

The palace minister then appointed Sun Hao as the successor. They recalled the day Sun

Hao went through the test as an infant. They were surprised at the coincidence. This story

spread like wildfire and in no time, people in China were using this test on their children whe

they were one year old. This custom is still practiced by the Chinese today.

Vocabulary

1. inclination Liking / showing a preference for2. struggle fight / make a great effort to obtain something3. dilemma predicament/ difficulty4.far-etching higher impression5. auspicious favourable / good6.platter tray/ plate7.protested voiced disapproval / objected

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8. abdicate to give up the throneLesson learned: I learned the origin of the Chinese custom of testing the childs inclination

when a child reaches one year old.