Pulling the Sprouts

Have you ever ruined something by trying to hurry it?

Original

必有事焉而勿正，心勿忘，勿助長也。無若宋人然：宋人有閔其苗之不長而揠之者，芒芒然歸，謂其人曰：「今日病矣！予助苗長矣！」其子趨而往視之，苗則槁矣。天下之不助苗長者寡矣。以為無益而舍之者，不耘苗者也；助之長者，揠苗者也，非徒無益，而又害之。

In plain words

You must keep working at it, but don't fix the result in advance. Don't let it slip from your mind, but don't help it grow. Don't be like the man from Song. There was a man in Song who worried that his sprouts weren't growing, so he pulled them up a little. He came home exhausted and told his family, “I'm worn out today. I've been helping the sprouts grow!” His son rushed out to look, and the sprouts had all withered. Few in the world don't try to help their sprouts grow. Those who think it useless and give up are the ones who never weed. Those who help it grow are the ones who pull the sprouts: not only no use, but real harm.

Key words

揠yàTo pull upward.
耘yúnTo weed: the plain, daily work of tending.
助長zhù zhǎngForcing growth; today also means “egging on” something bad.

Reading it step by step

The last page said the flood-like spirit is “born from rightness accumulated,” built up day by day. So how hard should we push while it builds? Mencius answers with a story that makes us laugh, then wince.

First: two ways to fail. The people of Song were the butt of many old jokes. The man who waited by a tree stump for another rabbit to knock itself out was from Song; so was the duke who politely waited for the enemy to finish crossing a river and form ranks, and lost. Here is another. A farmer in Song worried that his sprouts were growing too slowly, so he went down the rows and pulled each one up a little.

He came home worn out and proud: “I'm exhausted! I helped the sprouts grow.” His son ran to the field. Every sprout had withered. Few people in the world, says Mencius, don't do this. There are two mistakes. One is to decide it's useless and leave the field alone, like a farmer who never weeds. The other is to be so anxious that you pull. The first field goes wild; the second dies.

Second: the road in between. Mencius's method is simple: “Keep at the work, but don't fix the result in advance. Don't forget it, but don't help it grow.” Imagine deciding, “This month I'm building my flood-like spirit,” and then hunting around for good deeds to perform. That is too deliberate; it's another way of pulling. The work belongs in the things you already ought to do. Weeding and watering are your job. When the plant gets taller is the plant's business.

give up“it's useless”: never weed

→ the field goes wild

pulltoo anxious: yank the sprouts

→ the sprouts wither

tendkeep at it; don't forget, don't force

→ it grows by itself

Third: why it can't be rushed. Qi, like a sprout, is alive and has its own pace. Character, learning, life itself: these are long-distance races, not sprints. A burst of effort can buy a quick result on the surface, but it often loosens the roots. Real work is ground out in ordinary tasks and proven in real tests. Slow is how roots go deep.

Parents today are especially tempted to be the man from Song. English at three, competition maths at five, weekends packed with tutoring. The grades may indeed get pulled up a little, while the child's love of learning withers. We do it to ourselves too: lose ten kilos in a month, master a skill in a weekend, fix a relationship in one conversation. Then we wonder why nothing takes root.

Don't abandon the field, and don't yank the sprouts. Weed a little every day, and leave time to do its work.

One line to carry

Don't abandon the field. Don't yank the sprouts.

Today's question

Which sprout are you pulling at right now? Write down one small bit of daily weeding you can do without checking the result.

Quick check

What did the man from Song and the farmer who never weeds each get wrong?

Next pageWhen Heaven Has a Great TaskPage 19

III · Growing a Flood-like Spirit — From self-cultivation to standing tall in the world

Printable journal pages · Mencius · About

Sister site: 五十策 Fifty Stalks