One night, Ai Zi asked his pupil to strike a flint to light the lamp.
For a long time nothing happened. So Ai Zi urged him in a loud voice.
“It is so dark, how am I going to find the flint?” the pupil complained. Then he added, ”All right, master, you light the candle and let us find it together.”
Allegorical Meaning
This minimalist fable by Su Shi satirizes self-defeating logic and intellectual detachment from practical reality.
The Absurdity of Self-Referential Solutions
The servant’s request — “Bring a candle to find the fire-making tools” — exposes a fatal circularity:
- He requires light to find tools for creating light
- This embodies solutions that presuppose the problem is already solved
Scholarly Paralysis by Over-Analysis
- Darkness = Problem needing urgent action (fire for warmth/light)
- “Can’t find drill” = Over-reliance on perfect conditions
- “Bring candle first” = Academic detachment prioritizing theory over pragmatism
The fable also implies education sometimes breeds impractical thinkers.
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