Hi Richard,
Things in the world are normally seen by their appearance with their nature hidden. The appearance of an object could also have different forms when situation changes. E.g. water could appear in three different forms, i.e. vapour, liquid and crystal. One shouldn't draw a quick conclusion on things just by seeing their appearance without exploring their nature.
Lin Ze Xu (林則徐), 1785 AD – 1850 AD, was a Chinese scholar and official during the Qing (清) dynasty. He was most recognized for his campaign against the opium trade in Guang Zhou (廣州).
One day, Lin Ze Xu was invited to a dinner by one of his foreign friends. After the main course, ice cream was served as dessert. It is the first time that Lin Ze Xu came across this new stuff. He saw vapour coming out from the ice cream and thought that it was very hot. Before putting the ice cream to his mouth, he blew away the vapour trying to cool down its temperature. He was very embarrassed when he found out that the stuff was icy cold.
Several months later, Lin Ze Xu invited his foreign friend back home for dinner. This time, he served his guest with mashed taro (芋泥) as desert. Mashed taro was a very famous dessert in southern China. It was boiling hot. However, one wouldn't know from its appearance as it was covered with a layer of lard. His friend learnt a lesson after a big bite.
With love, Patrick