He carried a clay pot filled with water in
order to water his crops.(抱甕灌圃)
Zhuangzi was one of the most famous
thinkers and philosophers in Chinese history. Despite living a life of poverty,
he deeply enjoyed this simplicity.
He believed that spiritual freedom was far
more important than physical pleasure. His attitude towards life had a profound
influence on later generations of Chinese people.
He lived during the Warring States period
and is considered a leading figure in Daoist thought.
He wrote a book, the gist of the opening
story of which is as follows:
Confucius had a student named Duanmu Ci,
who was also known as Zigong. Most later generations referred to this student
of Confucius as Zigong.
Zigong once served as prime minister of the
Kingdom of Lu. He possessed outstanding political talent and a keen business
sense. He amassed wealth through commerce and was the richest of Confucius's
students.
One day, he went to the southern state of
Chu to seek business opportunities. En route, he came across a vegetable garden
by the roadside where an elderly farmer was painstakingly watering his crops
with a large, heavy earthenware jar.
After watering a small patch of land, the
farmer carried the empty jar to a nearby well to fetch more water and repeated
this process.
Zigong quietly observed this for about ten
minutes, finding the inefficiency increasingly unbearable.
Finally, unable to suppress his urge to
share a more efficient method, he approached the farmer and said, "
'Good afternoon. I just saw how you were
watering your crops by the roadside and thought it was incredibly inefficient.
I know a clever method that can help you
work more quickly and easily.
May I share it with you?"
After listening to Zigong, the old farmer
asked,
'What do you think I should do?'
Zigong said,
'I can make a wooden tool with a simple
structure.' Its design uses mechanical principles to enable people to quickly
draw water from a well.
If you'd like, I can make one for you and
show you how to use it.'
The idiom literally translates as 'he
carried a clay pot filled with water to water his crops'.
It is used to describe someone working in a
foolish way.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you gain from this story?
Could your work be done more efficiently?
When you work, do you prioritise efficiency or effectiveness?
I hope this story has given you some new
insights.
抱甕灌圃(He carried a clay pot filled with
water in order to water his crops.)
莊周是中國歷史上最著名的思想家與哲學家之一。他一生生活在貧困之中，卻十分享受這種簡單。
莊子認為精神的自由遠比肉體的享樂更重要。他的生活態度，深深影響了後世的中國人。
莊周生活在戰國時代，後世將他視為道家思想的代表人物。
他寫過一本書，這本書中有一個故事的前面一小段的大意如下。
孔子有一個名字叫做端木賜的學生，這個學生還有另外一個名字，這名字叫做(子貢)，後代大部分都用(子貢)來稱呼孔子的這個學生。
(子貢)曾經擔任魯王國的首相，他的政治才能很卓越，他還有著敏銳商業頭腦，他靠經商致富，他是孔子的學生中最有錢的人。
有一天，子貢到南方的楚國尋找商業機會。途中，他看見路旁有一塊菜園，一位年邁的農夫正抱著一個又大又沉的陶甕，艱難地為農作物澆水。
農夫澆完一小片地後，便抱著空甕走到不遠處的井邊取水，如此反覆。
子貢在路旁靜靜觀察了大約十分鐘，越看越覺得難以忍受這種低效率。
最終，子貢壓抑不住內心那份想要分享更有效率的方法的衝動，他走上前去對那個老農夫說。
午安你好，我剛才站在大馬路邊看到你給農作物澆水的方式，我覺得這種方式太沒有效率了。
我知道一個很聰明的方法，可以讓你用更簡單更快速的方式來完成你的工作。
請問我可以分享我所知道的這個方式給你嗎?
那個老農夫聽完(子貢)說的話後對子貢說。
你認為我該怎樣做呢?
子貢說。
我會製作一種木製的器具，這種器具的結構很簡單，這種器具的設計概念是利用力學的原理讓人們可以非常快速地從井中取水。
如果你願意，我可以為你製作一個這種木製的器具並且教導你如何使用。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是他抱著裝水的陶甕去幫他所種的植物澆水。
這句成語被用來形容一個人用著很愚笨的方法在工作。
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。
你現在的工作可以用有更有效率的方式完成嗎?你做事的時候比較重視效率還是效果呢?
我希望這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為莊子-外篇-天地-11條