A famous general called Ban Chao of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) was sent to visit the Western Regions. He led 36 men to Shanshan State to express the desire of the Han Dynasty for establishing friendly relations with the State. The king of Shanshan was friendly to them in the beginning but suddenly, with no explanation, gave them the cold shoulder. As a matter of fact, messengers from the Huns had also come to the Shanshan State at that time and provoked animosity between the Han Dynasty and the Shanshan State. The king of Shanshan began to hesitate.
Ban Chao, upon seeing this, called together his 36 men and said to them, “It is extremely dangerous for us now. The king of Shanshan has already acted coldly towards us. If the matter develops like this further, Shanshan might seize us and hand us over to the Huns. In that case, we won’t be able to complete our mission and will die without a burial place!”
The 36 men asked, “So what should we do now? We all listen to you!”
Ban Chao said, “Just as you can’t catch a tiger’s cub unless you enter into its lair, it would be better to kill the Hun’s messenger at night!”
At night, Ban Chao led the 36 heroes to the battalion of the Hunnish messengers, making a sudden attack on them. After a furious fight, Ban Chao and the 36 men killed over 100 Huns.
Ban Chao met with the King the next day and told him about the event. Realizing that they were extraordinarily brave, the King admired him and at the same time was afraid of them, signing the peace treaty with the Han Dynasty at once.
This story comes fromLaterChronicles of the Han Dynasty:Biography of Ban Chao. The idiom indicates that one can not expect to achieve anything if one risks nothing and has no hard practice.
