Three in the morning and four in the evening

Ju Gong was a native of the State of Song living at about the time of the Spring and Autumn period. He was very fond of monkeys and kept many of them as his pets.

For the sake of feeding the monkeys, Ju Gong cut down family supplies. Soon, his fortune waned and his food supplies became inadequate. He found a way to overcome this problem.

He first told them, "I shall give you three chestnuts each every morning and four each every evening. Will this be enough ?" Upon hearing this, the monkeys got angry and Ju Gong offered another method, "I shall, istead, give you four in the morning and three more in the evening. Will this not be enough ?"

The monkeys jumped for joy knowing that the morning ration had been increased from three to four.

This saying is today used to describe a person for his fickle-mindedness.