by Han Fei
There was a man from Lu who was good at weaving straw sandals, and his wife excelled at weaving white silk. They planned to move to the state of Yue.
Someone said to him: “You will certainly end up in poverty.”
The man from Lu asked: “Why?”
The man replied: “Straw sandals are for wearing on feet, but people in Yue go barefoot. White silk is for making hats, but people in Yue wear their hair loose and do not wear hats.
To take your skills to a country where they are of no use — how can you avoid poverty?”
The man from Lu answered: “In a country where these things are not yet used, we can introduce and popularize them. Then their use will become even wider. How could we be poor?”
Note
Han Fei
A major Legalist philosopher of the Warring States Period. He used fables to discuss practical skills, market logic, and state governance.
State of Lu & State of Yue
Lu was a state in northern China known for etiquette and craftsmanship; Yue was a southern state whose people had different customs, such as going barefoot and wearing hair unbound.
Straw sandals & white silk
Traditional handicrafts in ancient China: straw sandals for daily wear, white silk for making formal hats.
Custom differences between northern and southern ancient China
Southern peoples often had simpler lifestyles and different dress habits compared to the central plains.
Two views on opportunity
One side sees unused skills as useless; the other sees untapped markets as great potential for development.
A man of Lu moves to Yue (鲁人徙越)
This idiom is used in two ways:
1. Traditionally: warning against applying one’s skills where there is no demand.
2. Modernly: praising the vision to develop new markets and guide new demand.
It reflects a classic debate between conservative caution and innovative entrepreneurship.
鲁人身善织屦，妻善织缟，而欲徙于越。或谓之曰：”子必穷矣！”鲁人曰：”何也？”曰：”屦为履之也，而越人跣行；缟为冠之也，而越人被发。以子之所长，游于不用之国，欲使无穷，其可得乎？”鲁人对曰：”夫不用之国，可引而用之，其用益广，奈何穷也？”
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