Emperor Taizong of Tang had been able to speak of "loving them all alike" not merely because he was personally broad-minded. The Sui and Tang had succeeded the Northern Dynasties, conquering the south from the north and uniting the realm. Thus, the meritorious men who had helped establish their rule and the pillars of their founding governments had never belonged to a single ethnic group, but were a mixture of Hu and Han. Even the imperial house had inevitably been touched by Hu blood and customs. Their founding foundations and cultural orientation were therefore entirely different from those of the Southern Dynasties, whose gentry had crossed south to resist the Five Barbarians.
Thus, however widely informed Xiao Baoyue might be, when she heard Wang Yang initially paraphrase Emperor Taizong of Tang and speak of "regarding them all alike," she still found it incomprehensible.
Of course, Wang Yang knew Xiao Baoyue could not accept it. To make her understand these ideas, he had to explain them through a framework of language that lay within the values and intellectual horizons of her time. It was like setting mathematics problems for Inuit: reindeer and seals would make more vivid examples than lions and tigers. So Wang Yang spoke from the Ancient Golden Age to the Distinction Between Hua and Yi in the Spring and Autumn Annals, then to the breadth of mind befitting the Son of Heaven. On the surface, not a word strayed from the principles of the classics, yet every sentence rose like a wondrous peak beyond the clouds, surpassing imagination!
It was like dancing in shackles, yet still performing a dance from beyond the heavens; like keeping within prescribed movements, yet still creating an unrivaled sword technique! Had ordinary people of the time heard Wang Yang's explanation, they might merely