During a gathering at a restaurant, Xiao Chen shared a story. Last month, while traveling through Jiaodong, he passed through a village when a large dog suddenly charged at him from a distance. Xiao Chen asked, "What should I have done in that situation?"
"Running is out of the question. The best way is to hit it with a stone," someone suggested.
Xiao Chen replied, "Exactly. There is a folk saying, 'Dogs are afraid of crouching.' When a person crouches, a dog assumes you are about to pick up a stone to throw at it, so it flees in fear. That is exactly what I did—the dog turned and ran as soon as I crouched. Just as I was preparing to continue my journey, an elderly man suddenly ran over, picked up a stone from the ground, and threw it, hitting the dog on its leg. The dog yelped and ran even further away."
"I thanked the man, but he was not appreciative; instead, he said somewhat angrily, 'If you crouch, you should hit it once. If you don't, the dog will no longer respect you, and the rules will be broken.'"
"I thought his words made a lot of sense. The reason dogs fear people crouching is that a long-term conditioned reflex has formed between the act of crouching and the threat of being hit; it is almost a silent agreement between humans and dogs. If you crouch but fail to follow through with the 'punishment,' the dog will eventually stop believing you. At that point, regardless of your intentions, it will lunge at you, and you will be the one who suffers."
"It seems the old man wasn't just helping me hit the dog; on a deeper level, he was maintaining an order to ensure long-term peace."
"Indeed. Often, breaking the rules is more terrifying than violence. Violence only disrupts outward harmony, but breaking the rules undermines the very foundation of order."
