During the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-280), the State of Wei, dominated by Prime Minister Cao Cao, was the big power in the northern part of China. Meanwhile , the State of Wu in southern China was much weaker. One day, the State of Wu sent an elephant as a present to the State of Wei in order to try to show their friendship and improve relations with their powerful northern neighbours.
Most of the people in the State of Wei had never seen an elephant before and rushed over to admire it. People wanted to know the weight of the elephant. Cao Cao was in a good mood that day. He said to the people present, “I’ll reward anyone who can find a way to weigh the elephant.”
The crowd were abuzz. How could this huge animal be weighed? Some said, “How about making a giant scales out of a big tree? Then ask Hercules to weigh it.” Making such a scales would take a long time and, even if it could be constructed, it would be impossible to lift up the heavy elephant. They thought it over and over and finally shook their heads in resignation and defeat.
At the very moment, a kid ran up to Cao Cao and said, “Daddy, I have an idea.” The crowd suddenly fell into silence. Who was this kid? It was Cao Chong, one of the sons of Cao Cao. People knew he was well known for his intelligence even though he was only about five or six years old. Nobody took him seriously including Cao Cao. He jokingly said to his son, “Well, Ok then, tell us your idea, my boy.”
Cao Chong said seriously, “You just wait and see.”
Under Cao Chong’s guidance, a person led the elephant onto a boat near the riverbank. When the elephant stepped onto the boat, the boat sank a lot. A person drew a line on a side of the boat before leading the elephant off the boat. The line was on a level with the water surface. Then, he got some people to carry some big stones into the boat. The boat sank again. When the water surface was even with the line, Cao Chong asked them to stop.
Cao Chong returned to his father and said, “Now, Dad, ask someone to weigh those stones. The total weight of the stones will be the weight of the elephant.” The crowd were amazed. No adult had expected that a kid could find such a simple way to weigh the elephant. Cao Cao felt proud and was delighted with his son’s performance and his love and respect for him increased even more.
