Since Yanzi was short, the men of Chu made a special low entrance next to the main entrance and invited Yanzi to go through it.
Yanzi refused, saying, “If I went to a nation of dogs, I would enter through a gate for dogs.
But now I have come as an emissary to Chu; therefore, I should not enter through this gate.” The head receptionist accordingly altered the route so that they would pass through the main gate.
During Yanzi’s audience with the king of Chu, the king said, “Does Qi then have no men?” “The city of Linzi in Qi,” replied Yanzi, “has three hundred households.
If the sleeves of the gowns of the people in those households were all spread out, they would make a continuous curtain throughout the city; if all their sweat were scattered about at once, it would be like falling rain. They are so numerous that their heels and shoulders touch—how can one say that Qi has no people?” “Then why were you chosen to come on this mission?” asked the king.
“When Qi gives commissions to its emissaries,” said Yanzi, “there is always a reason for the selection. Worthy rulers are sent to worthy rulers, and unworthy ones are sent to unworthy rulers.
I am the unworthiest of all, so I was fit to be sent to Chu.” An Emissary from Qin Wards Off a Threat in Chu