The Empty Pot

Long ago in China, there was an old emperor who loved flowers more than anything in his kingdom.

His palace gardens were famous. Peonies as big as bowls grew beside the lotus ponds. Chrysanthemums lined the paths in autumn. Plum blossom covered the walls in early spring. The emperor walked among them every morning, and the people said that whatever he touched seemed to bloom.

But the emperor was growing very old, and he had no children. He needed to choose someone to rule after him.

The emperor's seeds

One day, a message went out to every town and village in the land. All the children of the kingdom were to come to the palace.

They came in their thousands, from the cities and the farms, from the mountains and the rivers. Among them was a boy called Jun, from a small village in the hills. His family were poor, but Jun had a gift: anything he planted grew. Beans, melons, flowers, even a little orange tree outside his mother's door, all thrived under his care.

The emperor stood before the crowd of children and smiled.

"Each of you will receive one seed from me," he said. "Take it home. Plant it, water it, care for it. In one year's time, come back and show me what you have grown. Whoever has done their very best will be emperor after me."

A servant went among the children, placing one seed into each small hand.

Jun ran all the way home, holding his seed as carefully as if it were a jewel.

Nothing grows

He chose the finest pot in the house. He filled it with rich, dark soil from the riverbank. He planted the seed, watered it gently, and set it in the sun.

Every morning, he looked at it.

Nothing.

After a few weeks, he moved it into a bigger pot with fresh soil. He gave it a little more water, then a little less. He moved it to a sunnier spot, then a shadier one. He sang to it in the evenings, the way his grandmother sang to her vegetables.

Still nothing.

Weeks became months. The seasons turned. All over the village, other children were talking about their plants: tall green shoots, wide leaves, the first fat buds. Jun's pot sat by the door, full of dark, smooth soil, and nothing at all.

He did not understand it. He had never had a seed fail him before.

Going back

At last the year was over, and it was time to return to the palace.

On the road, Jun saw the other children carrying their pots. They held up tall plants with blossoms of every colour, red and white and gold and pink. Some flowers were so big that the children could hardly see over them.

Jun looked down at his empty pot, and his eyes filled with tears.

"I can't go," he told his father. "Everyone will laugh at me. And the emperor will think I didn't even try."

His father knelt down beside him.

"I watched you care for that pot every single day," he said. "There is nothing in it to be ashamed of. Carry it to the palace as it is, and tell the emperor exactly what happened."

So Jun went.

The empty pot

The palace courtyard was a sea of flowers. Children stood in long rows, each holding up a beautiful plant, each hoping to be noticed. Jun stood at the very end, holding his bare pot, his face burning.

The emperor walked slowly along the rows, looking at the flowers. He did not smile. He said nothing to anyone.

Then he reached the end of the line and stopped in front of Jun.

"Why have you brought me an empty pot?" he asked.

Jun's voice shook, but he answered. "Your Majesty, I planted the seed you gave me. I watered it every day. I gave it new soil and moved it to the sun. But it never grew. I'm sorry. This is the best I could do."

The emperor looked at him for a long time. Then, slowly, a smile spread across his old face.

He took the empty pot in both his hands and lifted it high for everyone to see.

"I have found the one who will rule after me!" he declared.

There was a gasp from the whole courtyard.

"A year ago," said the emperor, "I gave each of you a seed. But every one of those seeds had been cooked. Not one of them could ever have grown."

The children went very quiet. Some of them looked down at their beautiful flowers, and their faces turned red.

"All of you have brought me plants grown from other seeds," the emperor went on, gently now. "Only this boy had the courage to bring me the truth, even when the truth was an empty pot. A ruler must be honest above all things. That is why he will be your emperor."

And so, in time, Jun became emperor. It is said that he ruled wisely and fairly for many years, and that the palace gardens had never bloomed so beautifully.

About this tale

This is a traditional Chinese folk tale, told in many versions in China and in other parts of East Asia. Its exact origin is not known, and the details change with each teller, but the cooked seeds and the honest empty pot are always at its heart. This version is a shortened, simplified retelling.