The Legend of the Incorruptible Stone

Plot Synopsis

Lu Ji, styled Gongji, was an official in the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. He reached the position of Prefect of Yulin. He was a man of integrity, incorruptible, and his reputation for honesty was widely spread in the world. When Lu Ji's term of office in Yulin ended, he took the waterway to return to his hometown. Since he never accepted bribes during his tenure, his luggage was light and simple when he left office to go back home. The light boat had difficulty sailing steadily against the wind and waves on the water. So he moved a large stone to ballast the boat, and then the boat could sail smoothly across the sea. During the Ming Dynasty, Fan Zhi, the Supervising Censor, inspected Suzhou. Admiring Lu Ji's incorruptibility, he engraved the two characters "Honest Stone" on the huge stone that Lu Ji had brought back to Suzhou from Yulin as ballast in those days. And he moved this stone to outside the yamen for officials and common people to look up to.