A Lesson of Sima Yi: Do Not Swear Casually

(Minghui.org) In ancient China, both the Yellow River and the Luo River were considered sacred. One notable story associated with the Luo River involves Sima Yi, a military general during the Three Kingdoms period.

In 239 AD, Sima and another high official, Cao Shuang, were assigned to support Cao Fang, the young emperor in the State of Wei. However, Sima was greedy for power and wanted more. In 249 AD, Sima conspired with Empress Dowager Guo and staged a coup against Cao. Since Cao was holding an office of high military power at the time, Sima sent him a message, “Swearing an oath by the Luo River, I only want to remove you from the post [without taking your life].”

Cao trusted Sima’s words, and surrendered his power. However, within a few days, Cao and his main followers, together with Cao’s family and extended families, were all executed, totaling in number about 3,000.

Shocked by Sima Yi’s treachery, people soon witnessed him reaping what he had sown. Sima died two years later. His eldest son Sima Shi had no heirs and died at age 48. Another son of Sima’s, Sima Zhao, also died prematurely at 54. Although Sima Zhao’s son Sima Yan established the Jin Dynasty, it descended into chaos, eventually leading to the War of the Eight Princes.

In 420 AD, General Liu Yu brought an end to the Jin Dynasty, killing the emperor the following year. Liu then ordered the extermination of the Sima clan nationwide. As a result, 172 years after Sima Yi’s oath by the Luo River, his descendants were almost completely wiped out.

China has a long and rich history shaped by divine influence. During a wedding ceremony, a couple would bow (or kneel) to the heavens, to the parents, and pledge loyalty and moral conduct to each other. Sadly, these traditions have almost disappeared since the rise of atheistic communist rule several decades ago.

Ironically, although the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) despises religions, it demands people to devote their lives to the Party when joining the Party or its junior organizations such as the Youth League and Young Pioneers. That explains why, after reading the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and learning the track record of brutality as well as lies from the CCP, over 450 million Chinese people have chosen to quit the CCP organizations for freedom of the heart and mind.