[One Thousand Characters a Day] Professor Park Jaehee's '3-Minute Classics' <4> - Mu-yong-ji Yu-yong

Editor's NoteToday's featured transcription sentence is a fable from the "Human World" chapter of Zhuangzi. There was a crooked and hollow tree that was abandoned because it could neither be used as building timber nor as a coffin, but thanks to no one paying attention to it, it grew into a large tree. Its uselessness ironically became its usefulness. The boundary between usefulness and uselessness, judged by human standards, can never be absolute. Just as talents may manifest when the time is right even if they are not immediately recognized, things around us?our children, our companies?may not show visible results right away. This wisdom of reverse thinking is another important value pursued by classical philosopher Professor Park Jaehee's 3-Minute Classics. The text contains 881 characters.

Muyongjiuyong (無用之有用)

What is useless is actually useful.

How different are what is useful (有用) and what is useless (無用)? The boundary between usefulness and uselessness as seen through human eyes does not seem absolute. The philosophy of Muyongjiuyong (無用之有用), which appears in Zhuangzi, suggests that what everyone in the world considers useless may actually be the most useful. It means that within what we consider useless lies great usefulness. This philosophy, which breaks down the boundary between the uselessness of being useless and the usefulness of being useful, is an important part of Zhuangzi’s philosophy that creates new value through a change in perspective.

The "Human World" chapter of Zhuangzi contains the following fable. A man named Nambaekjagi (Nam Baekja-gi) went to the Shangqiu (商丘) region and saw a large tree. It was so big that even if thousands of carts were tied to it, all the carts could fit under its shade. However, the branches of the tree were crooked and could not be used as building timber, and the hollow trunk could not be used as a coffin or a plank. Seeing this useless tree, Nambaekjagi exclaimed, "This tree is a useless tree that cannot be timber (此果不材之木也·Chiguo bu cai zhi mu ye)! But it is precisely this uselessness that made this tree grow so large (以至於此其大也·Yizhi yu ci qi da ye)!" In other words, the fact that it was not suitable as timber became the reason it grew into a large tree.

When we see people who were not recognized in their youth fully demonstrate their talents as they grow older, this story of Muyongjiuyong resonates even more deeply. Do not be too harsh on our children or employees just because they seem useless right now. Who knows? That uselessness might be the foundation that makes them great figures.

Uselessness! The power to discover usefulness within it is true competitiveness.

- Park Jaehee, 3-Minute Classics, Gimmyoung Publishing, 22,000 KRW