Charity

In the King James Version Bible, love was
written as charity. Nowadays, charity usually
means give.
The Buhdda taught his deciples that there are
3 types of give: money, skill, and free from fear.
Give money is simple and useful, but has limited
value.
Teach skill is better, the recevier can use the
skill to earn more money.
The best is to give "no fear".
Roosevelt said "the only thing we have to fear is
fear itself". When fear comes, love disappears.
So when the Buddha said give no fear, he meant
give the kind of love defined in the Bible,
First Corinthians chapter 13:

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not;
charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own,
is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things,
endureth all things.
Charity never faileth

King David and Tang Taizhong

To most Chinese, the greatest emperor in China's history
is Tang Taizhong, the founder of the Tang Dynasty.
Although the official history named his father as the
founder, but it was really Tang Taizhong conquered all
the adversaries and unified the country.
During Tang Taizhong's reign, and continued on
for 200 years, Tang dynasty blossomed in all respect,
be it military, political or culture.

I find King David and Tang Taizhong has one thing in
common: They are God's choices. Even though they
committed unforgivable sins, they lived through life
gloriously and died peacefully.

When I first read the Bible about King David,
One thing I couldn't reconcile was that how could
God forgive King David after he commited the wrost
crime possible: Steal his subornate's wife and then
murder him by purposely send him to the front line
to die in the battle.
In The Ten Commandments, King David's crime
violated four: Murder, steal, adultery and coveting
other's wife.
By any standard, this crime is unforgivable, nothing
short of death sentence can justify the punishment.
God did punished him, but was totally inadequate.

King David became the greatest king of Isarel, and
Jesus was his decendent.

King David died in old age in bed.

Now about Tang Taizhong,
when Tang Dynasty was established, Tang Taizhong's
father, Tang Gaozu became the new emperor. By
tradition, the eldest son of the emperor became the
crown prince, so the crown prince title went to Tang
Gaozu's eldest son: Li Jiancheng, even though
Tang Taizhong was the one won most battles
in unifying the country.

Tang Gaozu had four sons from his official wife:
Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin (Tang Taizhong), Li Xuanba and
Li Yuanji. The third son Li Xuanba died young.

The conflict between Li Jiancheng group and Li Shimin
group escalated after Li Jiancheng became the Crown
Prince. Later, Li Yuanji, the Fourth Prince, joined the
Crown Prince group to counter Li Shimin's group.

Under the pressure from his generals and staffs,
Li Shimin caved in and agreed to have a coup. The famous
Xuan Wu Gate Coup finally unfold:

On the day of the coup, Emperor Tang Gaozu went boating
with his concubines in the palace lake. Li Shimin group figured
the Crown Prince would pass through Xuan Wu Gate
by horse to pay respect to the emperor, so they plotted
an ambush nearby.
As Li Shimin and his generals waited, the Crown Prince,
together with the Fourth Prince, riding on the horses toward
Xuan Wu Gate.
When the two came close, the Crown Prince sensed something
was not right, and immediately they turned around. Li Shimin,
riding on a horse, came out and shouted: "Big brother and
little brother, hold on!". Li Yuanji knew right away there
was a plot, and shot a arrow toward Li Shimin, Li Shimin
bent himself on the horse and ducked the arrow. Li Yuanji shot
3 times without hitting Li Shimin, so in frenzy he tried to flee.
Li Shimin's goal was the Crown Price, so he opened the arc
wide and mount a giant arrow, twice as big as a normal arrow,
and shot at the Crown Prince Li Jiancheng, and bullseye! the
arrow penetrated the heart of the Crown Prince, the Crown
Prince fell down from the horse back and died instantly.
The Fourth Prince Li Yuanji was killed by Li Shimin's generals
while he was fleeing.

After Xuan Wu Gate Coup, Tang Gaozu said to Li Shimin: "It
was you who unified the country, the country should be yours
anyway. Now you are the only prince left."
Two months later, Tang Gaozu retired and Li Shimin was crowned
as the new emperor: Tang Taizhong.

Tang Taizhong murdered his two brothers and forced his father
to abdicate, in order that he became the emperor.
In retrospect, the coup was good for the country and good for the
people, as Tang Taizhong turned out to be a great statesman.
But his sin commited at Xuan Wu Gate was unforgivable,
particularly in China's confusian world.

Tang Taizhong died in old age in bed.