In the late Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220)， there lived a boy named Xu Tong in Nanchang. Young as he was， he was so clever that he often outsmarted the adults.
One day， he was playing in his neighbor’s courtyard. His neighbor was going to cut down the only tree in the yard with an axe and saw. The tree was tall and leafy. He thought what a pity it was for such a beautiful tree to be cut down. He asked， “Why do you want to cut it down？ In summer， it can offer us cool shade and in winter， it can shelter us from the strong wind. The whole courtyard looks so much more resplendent with such a tree standing here.” The neighbor replied， “As you know， my family is poor and has been beset with misfortune. We invited a feng shui master to try and tell us the reason for our woes. He said the courtyard was square， which was like the shape of the Chinese character ‘口’ (meaning ‘mouth’)， while the tree is written as the character ‘木’. When ‘木’ is inside ‘口’， the combined Chinese Character is ‘困’.”
“The feng shui master said the character ‘困’ means hardship or poverty and had brought bad luck to our family. It was all because of the tree. If I cut down the tree， our luck will change.”
The neighbor’s words sounded somewhat reasonable， but Xu Tong， after carefully thinking for a moment， came up with a clever idea. He said with a smile， “I have also read such words in the books： The courtyard is square， which is like the Chinese character ‘口’. If the Chinese character ‘人’ (person) is written inside the character‘口’， the combined character is‘囚’( prisoner).” Xu Tong laughed and said， “Which one do you think is more inauspicious， ‘困’or ‘囚’？ If you cut down the tree today， there is a good chance you will have to move away from the courtyard and maybe even be a prisoner.” The neighbor nodded thinking that what the boy had said made sense.
Xu Tong continued， “If your family pulls together and works hard， you will find ways out of trouble. Don’t believe the feng shui master who is just trying to con his way into your house in order to steal your goods.” Finally， the neighbor changed his mind and the tree was saved.
