Appraisal
Xu Sheng was always confident. When Wei sent Xing Zhen as an ambassador to Jiangdong to officially grant a kingship to Sun Quan, Sun personally led his officers out to a pavilion to receive Xing, who represented the Wei emperor, Cao Pi. Xing acted arrogantly and did not take Sun Quan seriously. Observing Xing's elated expression and behavior, Zhang Zhao and Xu Sheng were enraged. Xu said to his peers, "we can't risk our life for the country to conquer Xuluo (Xuchang and Luoyang) and Bashu (Ba and Shu regions), is that not a shame? Xing commented, "with officers such as them, (Sun Quan) will not be a subject for long."
However, Xu Sheng's self-ego did not always lead to positive actions, though. During the battle of Ruxu, Zhou Tai was appointed by Sun Quan to be the area commander, Xu Sheng and Zhu Ran were both under Zhou's command. However, the two came from a wealthier background, and did not want to submit to Zhou Tai's command citing the latter's common background. Thus, a great party was held, where Sun Quan personally served wine to Zhou Tai, and asked him to remove his outer garments. Pointing at each scar on Zhou's body, Sun Quan asked Zhou Tai the story behind it, whereupon Zhou would respond with his memories of past battles. At the end, Xu Sheng and Zhu Ran yielded to Zhou's authority.
Xu Sheng was also a man who tended to think too much. During his early appointment as the Huwu Chief, he attempted to execute Jiang Qin's civil clerk but was stopped by Sun Quan. Since then, Xu had been apprehensive of Jiang's revenge. When Jiang received the staff of authority to articulate military affairs in Ruxu, Xu Sheng even held the illusion that Jiang would use an excuse to get rid of him. However, the truth is that Jiang always spoke in favour of Xu and never abused his power to harm the latter.
Read more about this topic: Xu Sheng
Famous quotes containing the word appraisal:
“When one cannot appraise out of one’s own experience, the temptation to blunder is minimized, but even when one can, appraisal seems chiefly useful as appraisal of the appraiser.”
—Marianne Moore (1887–1972)
“Do your children view themselves as successes or failures? Are they being encouraged to be inquisitive or passive? Are they afraid to challenge authority and to question assumptions? Do they feel comfortable adapting to change? Are they easily discouraged if they cannot arrive at a solution to a problem? The answers to those questions will give you a better appraisal of their education than any list of courses, grades, or test scores.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)