One day, King Tang, the founder of the Shang Dynasty, sawa man arranging a net on all sides and praying to the deity:

"Let those that fly down from the sky, those that come out of the ground, and those that come running from all directions all run into my net!"

"Now please pray again! You can say thus: In the past, the spiders have spun nets. Now people have learned to make nets too. You birds and animals, those that want to turn left can go to the left; those that want to turn right can go to the right; those that want to fly can soar; those that want to get into holes can get into holes. I only catch those that are doomed to die."

"Well, isn't this catching the whole lot in one net?"

Tang said:

Tang went forward and took away the net on three sides, leaving only one side there. Then he said to the man:

Thereupon, all the 40 small states of the time had a heartfelt admiration for Tang and pledged their allegiance to the Shang Dynasty.

The much-told tale of King Tang's leaving the net open on three sides spread far and wide at once. When the people of the states south of the Han River heard of it, they all said:

"King Tang of Shang bestows favour even upon birds and animals. He is so lenient that he is truly a benevolent man."