It takes ten years of patience to plant trees, and a hundred years of patience to cultivate talents. (十年樹木百年樹人)
It takes ten years of patience to plant
trees, and a hundred years of patience to cultivate talents. (十年樹木百年樹人)
During the Spring and Autumn Period in
China, there was a famous minister in the Qi Kingdom. His name was Guan Zhong.
He helped the king of the Qi Kingdom to
become the most powerful kingdom in terms of military might and national power
in the contemporary era. He wrote a book explaining his philosophy of ruling
the country.
There is a story in this book that goes
like this.
The king of the Qi Kingdom asked Guan
Zhong.
Where do you think I should concentrate the
resources of our kingdom?
Which investments are the most important
for our kingdom and have the best return on investment?
Guan Zhong replied.
We should take a long-term view and take
our investments seriously.
If we were to evaluate where to invest the
kingdom's resources on a year-by-year basis, I think we should invest in rice
cultivation.
If we take a ten-year view of where we
should invest our resources in the Kingdom, I think we should invest in
planting trees.
If we were to evaluate where to invest the
kingdom's resources over a hundred years, I think we should invest in
cultivating talent.
Guan Zhong paused before continuing to
explain his views.
If we cultivate the fields carefully now,
in the future of our kingdom, we will have a harvest of equal total value.
If we carefully restore the forest now, our
kingdom will reap ten times as much in the future.
If we carefully cultivate talents now, our
kingdom will reap a hundred times the total value in the future.
The more seeds we sow, the more rice we
will get.
The bigger the forest we restore, the
bigger the ecosystem we will achieve.
The more talents we cultivate, the
contribution of those talents to our kingdom will have a multiplier effect, and
the contribution of those talents to our kingdom will be unimaginable.
After listening to Guan Zhong's words, the
King of Qi expressed his strong agreement.
The King of Qi fully authorised Guan Zhong
to lead the Qi Kingdom according to his own ideas and methods. The Qi Kingdom
later became the most powerful kingdom at that time.
The literal translation of this idiom is
that it takes ten years of patience to plant trees and a hundred years of
patience to cultivate talents. .
This idiom is used to describe that
cultivating talents is not easy, or that cultivating people requires long-term
planning.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
Does your country value education? Do you
value your own education?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
十年樹木百年樹人(It takes ten years of patience to
plant trees, and a hundred years of patience to cultivate talents.)
中國的春秋時代，齊王國有一個著名的大臣，他的名字叫做管仲。
他協助齊王國的國王成為當代武力與國力最強大的王國，他寫過一本書，他在書中分享他治理國家的理念。
這本書中有一段敘述如下。
齊王國的國王問管仲。
你認為我要把我們王國的資源重點投資在那個地方呢?
那些投資對我們王國而言是最重要的而且投資回報最好的呢?
管仲回答。
我們應該用長遠的眼光去認真看待我們的投資。
如果我們以一年為單位來評估我們應該把王國中的資源投資在那些地方，我認為我們應該投資在稻米的種植上。
如果我們以十年為單位來評估我們應該把王國中的資源投資在那些地方，我認為我們應該投資在樹木的種植上。
如果我們以百年為單位來評估我們應該把王國中的資源投資在那些地方，我認為我們應該投資在人才的培育上。
管仲停頓了一下然後繼續解釋他的看法。
我們現在用心的耕種田地，我們王國在未來我們就會得到總和價值相等的收穫。
我們現在用心的復育森林，我們王國在未來我們就會得到總和價值十倍的收穫。
我們現在用心的培育人才，我們王國在未來我們就會得到總和價值百倍的收穫。
我們播種愈多的種子，我們就會得到愈多的稻米。
我們復育愈大的森林，我們就會到的一個愈大的生態系統。
我們培育愈多的人才，這些人才對我們王國的貢獻會產生加乘的效果，這些人才對我們王國的貢獻將會是我們難以想像的。
齊王國的國王聽完管仲的話後表示極度的認同。
齊王國的國王充分的授權給管仲，讓管仲按照自己的理念與方法去管理齊王國，齊王國後來成為當時最強大的王國。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是栽種樹木需要十年的耐心等待，培養人才需要百年的耐心等待。。
這句成語被用來形容培養人才非常不容易或是比喻培育人需要長久的規劃。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你的國家重視教育嗎?你是否有重視自己對自己的教育呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為管仲-管子-權修