 Another anecdote is valuable for what it suggests about the nature of Gongsun Long’s disputations. Gongsun Long debates with an opponent, Kong Chuan, at the residence of the Lord of Pingyuan. With great cleverness, he argues for the claim that “John Doe has three ears.” (In Chinese, plurals are unmarked, so the sophist can assert of any normal two-eared person, such as John Doe, that he “has ear(s),” and also that he has a left ear and a right ear. Therefore he has “three ears.”) Eventually, Kong Chuan is unable to reply. 