Bu He Shi Yi

In the State of Lu， there was a couple of husband and wife， the former being an expert shoemaker and the latter a skilled hand in wearing taffeta. One day after consultations they decided to go to the state of Yue to earn a livelihood. The neighbors advised them not to go when they learned about their plan. “Dont go there，” said one neighbor， “If you go， you can never earn a livelihood.”

“We cannot understand you，” interrogated the couple，“We have a fine command of our art， how could we not earn our living with our work？ Dont make a fool of us， please.”“Indeed，you have your skill，” explained the man， “But have you taken notice of the fact that shoes are made for people and the silk taffeta are for hat-making？ The people of Yue dont wear shoes， for they are barefoot. Again， they like to have their hair spread out over their heads and they never use hats. To whom should you sell your shoes and hats then？”Experienced though you are in the arts， yet the arts you have mastered are useless there.” After this explanation， the husband and wife now understood that anything that was not adaptable to the objective world would be useless and unpractical.