Exploring the value of honesty through the story of 'The Emperor's Contest'.
BEN: Hiya, I'm Ben and this is the amazing story of The Emperor's Contest.
Once, there was an emperor, a king, a ruler. No, not that sort of ruler. This sort of ruler.
EMPEROR: I am the emperor!
BEN: He had no children, but he wanted to choose someone wise and honest to rule his glorious kingdom after him. So, he called for his trusty messenger.
MESSENGER BLOWS TRUMPET: I am the messenger to his magnificent emperor! He's inviting all children to his splendidulous palace. Come on, hurry up, let's go.
BEN: When the children got to the palace, the emperor said, "Children, I'm giving you all a seed. Go home, plant this seed in a pot and in one year come back and then I'll choose one of you to be the next emperor."
Well, go on then, hurry up, there's no time to lose.
One of the children was a boy called Ling. Ling was so excited to be given a seed by the emperor…
LING: Oh, my beautiful, wonderful seed. I'm going to plant this seed in a pot and I'm going to water it. I'm going to water it every day.
BEN: Well, Ling did water it every day. It didn't grow. He gave it plenty of sunshine.
Yet, no matter what he did, where he put the pot or how much he watered it, it just didn't grow. He even sang the seed a song.
LING: SINGS Grow, grow, grow. Grow, grow, grow. Please?
BEN: As the weeks past, Ling saw the plants of the other children who'd been given seeds and already they were growing tall and strong! Ling didn't know what to do.
Then he had an idea.
'Maybe,' Ling thought, 'I could take a different plant, a nice big bushy one and pretend that my seed has grown really well.' GIGGLES
LING: Oh, I can't do it!
BEN: You see, it wouldn't have been honest and Ling knew how important it was to tell the truth. If he lied, he wouldn't be worthy to take over from the emperor.
The day came and Ling and the other children returned to the great hall with their plants and wondered which of them the emperor would choose.
The emperor saw Ling's pot and asked…
EMPEROR: What is your name?
LING: Ling.
EMPEROR: All hail the next emperor – Emperor Ling.
LING: Pardon?
EMPEROR: A year ago, I gave you all a seed to plant. But, the seeds I gave out had been boiled, so they would never ever grow. I wanted to see how many of you would swap a useless seed for a plant and whether any of you would return with an empty pot. Only one of you has and that is Ling. So, this young man will be my heir, because he's been honest.
BEN: Ling was astonished and many years later did indeed become emperor and was known throughout the land as wise, honest and true.
Well, thanks for helping me tell today's treasure story. We'll see you again soon. Bye-bye.
ALL: Bye!
The story is a fable of Chinese origin. A fable is a story that has a moral, some nugget of wisdom that can be applied to life. This story focuses on the value of honesty and taking responsibility for telling the truth even when it is difficult.
The emperor in the story has to decide who will be the next emperor. He wants someone truthful, so sets a task to help him pick the next emperor. He gives each candidate a seed and asks them to return with whatever grows from it. The candidates do not know that the seeds have been boiled and thus cannot grow.
This fable can help us to reflect on the value of honesty and what can happen if we are courageous and tell the truth, even when it might appear the more difficult option to take.
Duration: 4' 21"
Final words: 'We'll see you again soon! Bye! / Bye!'
- Why did the emperor want to choose someone to be the next emperor? (He had no children)
- What did the emperor give to the children that he had invited to his palace? (A seed)
- What happened to Ling’s seed? (It didn’t grow)
- What idea did Ling have when his seed didn’t grow? (To pretend that a different plant had grown from the seed)
- Why did the emperor choose Ling to be the emperor? (Because he was honest and didn’t lie about the plant)
Teacher Notes
Here are two questions to help children apply the learning from the story. 1: Can you think of a time when it was difficult to be honest? 2: Have you ever felt tempted not to tell the truth? If so, what persuaded you that being honest was right?
Give the children scenarios - in the form of either words or pictures - in which someone has to decide whether or not to be honest - eg finding a pound in the playground or pushing in the line at playtime.
Ask the children to record the consequences of being untruthful and the rewards for being honest for each scenario.
Invite children to share their answers.
Ask them to explain why they would want people to be honest in each of the scenarios.
Curriculum Notes
This short film will be relevant for teaching KS1 Religious Education in England and Northern Ireland, the Curriculum for Wales (particularly RVE as part of Humanities), and Early and 1st Level Religious and Moral Education in Scotland.
Further resources
