When Hu Li Zi was returning to his native home from the capital, the prime minister ordered his superintendent to see him off. “If you want to go by boat, choose whichever official boat you like,” he told Hu Li Zi.
Before the superintendent arrived, Hu Li Zi was already at the riverside to choose a boat. There were thousands of boats moored along the band, and he could not tell which were the official boats and which the private.
When the superintendent came, he asked how he was to tell one from the other.
”That is easy,” said the superintendent. “Choose any from among those with battered awnings, broken oars and tom sails. All those are official boats.”
Hu Li Zi heaved a sigh. “No wonder the people all look so tattered. Probably the emperor regards the people as ‘official’ ones too,” he said to himself.
Allegorical Meaning
Liu Ji uses this simple narrative to deliver a scathing critique of bureaucratic decay and systemic failure.
The “Tragedy of the Commons” Embodied
Private boats are well-maintained because owners bear direct responsibility.
Official boats rot because “no one owns them”:
- Users abuse them without consequence
- Officials embezzle maintenance funds
- Accountability vanishes in bureaucratic layers
Decay as the Symbol of Power
The boat symbolizes the Yuan dynasty bureaucracy. The very markers of neglect—torn sails, broken oars, holes—became identifiers of state authority. This perversity exposes:
- How corruption becomes institutionalized
- The state’s failure to uphold its own standards
The Mistreatment of the People (“The Official People”)
Hu Lizi’s final insight is the crux: “Probably the emperor regards the people as ‘official’ ones too.” This extends the metaphor:
- People as State Property:
When the populace is viewed merely as “official people” – resources to be exploited, subjects to be ruled, or numbers on a register – rather than individuals deserving care and respect, their well-being is inevitably neglected. - Consequence of Neglect:
Just like the boats, if the people are seen as belonging to the impersonal “state,” those in power feel little responsibility for their welfare. This leads to suffering, poverty, and a broken social fabric (“No wonder the people all look so tattered”).
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