Sima Guang Breaks The Vat

Illustrated By: Tristan Liu

A THOUSAND YEARS AGO, Sima Guang was a famous man in the Song dynasty of China.  He came from a famous family, and he proved so smart and capable that he even wrote a history of China that was 300 volumes long. But that is not what he is remembered for today.  Not even close.  Sima Guang is known for what happened after a calamity struck when he was nine years old.  

On that fateful day, the young Sima Guang was playing hide-and-seek with his friends in the backyard. Some of them hid behind a big rock, others hid in a pavilion.  Zhang spied the perfect place to hide – a large water vat. 

“What are you doing?” called Li Na in a loud whisper as Zhang started to climb up the water vat.

“He’ll never find me in here!” said Zhang, continuing to climb. 

“Don’t climb up there!” said Wang.  “When you get to the top, you can fall.”

“No way,” said Zhang.  When he got to the top, he said, “Look at me – one foot!”

Zhang spun around to jump into the vat but by the time he noticed the truth, he had already jumped.  The vat was full of water!  Zhang may have been a fine jumper, but a swimmer he was not. 

“Wang Wei said, “I bet I can go up to the top of the water vat!”

“I cannot swim!” called Zhang, gulping the water.  “The water’s too deep!”

“We must run for help!” called Li Na in a panic.

“No!” said Sima Guang, try to gasp for air.  “That’ll take too long!”

“We must run for help! said Li Na.”

Wang waved his arms, alarmed.  “What can we do?” 

“Aughh!” yelled Zhang, bobbing on the water and fearing for his life.

“Aughh!” the children yelled, running around and tripping over each other in a panic.  

Sima Guang saw a rock.  He picked up the rock and threw it at the bottom of the water vat.  The vat did not crack.  He picked up the rock and threw it again.  There was a very small crack this time.  He threw it again. A bigger crack!  All at once, a large wave of water flew out of the broken water vat. And with the wave of water, out rolled Zhang!