Index Finger
Apparently, today is "Hand Washing Day."
With that in mind, I thought I'd write about the phrase "the index finger twitches" (shokushi ga ugoku), taken from "Bihoroku: A Collection of Famous Chinese Sayings" by Shunshin Chin (Chuokoron-Shinsha). (Slightly modified)
This is a story from the State of Zheng. It took place in 605 BC, about fifty years before Confucius was born.
The State of Zheng was located around what is now Henan Province. Place names like Zhengzhou and Xinzheng still remain today.
The ruler at the time was Duke Ling (a different person from the Duke Ling who appears in the Analects of Confucius). Duke Ling was a cynical and somewhat mean-spirited person.
One day, a man from the State of Chu presented a soft-shelled turtle. Both then and now, soft-shelled turtle is considered a great delicacy. Two ministers of Zheng, named Zigong and Zijia, were on their way to the palace for an audience.
At this moment, Zigong made a strange gesture. He twitched his right index finger. At the time, the index finger was called the "eating finger" (shokushi).
"What's that for?" asked Zijia.
"When this finger twitches, it's a sign that I'm about to eat something delicious," said Zigong.
When they arrived at the palace, sure enough, turtle soup was served at the banquet.
—See? I told you so.
Zigong smiled smugly and looked at Zijia.
"What on earth is so funny?" asked Duke Ling.
"Actually, it's such and such..." Zijia explained the situation.
"Hmph," Duke Ling, being a cynical and mean-spirited man, snorted and said, "I wonder if that omen will really come true?"
During the banquet, Duke Ling ordered, "Zigong alone is not to eat the turtle." How about that? Your omen didn't come true, did it? Serves you right. Zigong was a short-tempered man. He stood up in a rage, plunged his finger into the turtle soup in the cauldron, licked his finger, and walked out.
"Look, the omen came true after all!"
This time, it was Duke Ling who was furious. I'll kill him!
Since he had defied his lord in front of everyone, Zigong was prepared. I'll kill him before he kills me. He and his friend Zijia ended up plotting to murder Duke Ling. Even for the Spring and Autumn period, it is rare for a ruler to be killed in such a foolish way. The phrase "the index finger twitches" has such a bloody origin. Truly, the grudge over food is a fearful thing. Also, one must be generous when it comes to humor. 😁
I wondered which magazine to put this article in, but since it's a story about ancient China, I'll put it in the Chinese Classics category. 😁
🐻