How to Read “Making a fine horse catch mice”
Ki wo shite nezumi wo torashimu
Meaning of “Making a fine horse catch mice”
This proverb means it’s wasteful to use talented people for trivial tasks. A fine horse that can run a thousand miles won’t show its true abilities catching mice.
In fact, it creates a loss. The horse can’t demonstrate its power where it should truly shine.
The saying warns against the foolishness of assigning highly capable people to simple tasks in organizations and society. Anyone could do these jobs.
When you don’t understand someone’s talents or expertise and give them inappropriate roles, it hurts both the person and the organization.
Today, people use this proverb to criticize situations where highly skilled professionals get buried in paperwork. Or when experienced people only do simple repetitive tasks.
Talent can flourish or die depending on how it’s used. This proverb teaches the importance of matching people to suitable positions through vivid contrast.
Origin and Etymology
This proverb likely comes from ancient Chinese classics. “Ki” refers to a fine horse that can run a thousand miles in one day.
It has long been used as a symbol of outstanding talent.
Looking at the structure, “ki wo shite” means “making a fine horse,” and “nezumi wo torashimu” means “catch mice.”
Making a horse that runs a thousand miles catch mice – a small task. The vividness of this contrast forms the heart of the proverb.
Ancient China valued placing talented people in suitable positions. Under Confucian influence especially, using excellent people correctly was considered essential for rulers.
Let fine horses excel on battlefields. Leave mouse-catching to cats. Using each ability to its fullest was seen as the path to prosperity for organizations and nations.
The proverb likely came to Japan with Chinese classics. Documents from the Edo period contain this expression.
During an era when Chinese learning was valued as samurai education, it became widely known as a warning about personnel appointments.
Using the concrete image of a fine horse that everyone understands, it conveys abstract ideas about talent management clearly. This wisdom is embedded in the saying.
Interesting Facts
The character “ki” in this proverb is rarely used in daily life. It’s an unusual character.
However, in Chinese classics, it was frequently used as a metaphor for outstanding talent.
There’s another phrase, “rōki fukureki,” which means “even an old fine horse lying in the stable still has the will to run a thousand miles.”
It expresses an unwavering spirit that doesn’t fade with age.
The idea that a fine horse runs a thousand miles (about 4,000 kilometers) in one day is obviously an exaggeration.
But this extraordinary number had the power to appeal to people’s imagination as a symbol of exceptional ability.
Usage Examples
- Making someone with a doctorate only organize files is like making a fine horse catch mice
- Assigning an excellent engineer to help desk work is making a fine horse catch mice – it’s a loss for the company
Universal Wisdom
Behind this proverb’s endurance lies a deep truth about human society. The mismatch between abilities and roles creates both individual unhappiness and social loss simultaneously.
People are born with different talents. Some excel at drawing grand visions. Others have exceptional attention to detail.
Yet there have always been people who can’t or won’t recognize these differences. Sometimes from jealousy, sometimes from misunderstanding, they place talented people in inappropriate positions.
What’s interesting is that the proverb doesn’t say “the fine horse is unhappy.” Rather, it says it’s “wasteful.”
In other words, the one who loses is the person using the horse. People placed in environments where they can’t use their talents eventually leave to seek other places.
The remaining organization permanently loses the results it could have achieved.
Our ancestors understood this. The ability to place people appropriately determines a leader’s true worth.
And organizations that can’t do this never prosper, no matter how talented their people are. This is the truth.
This proverb continues to convey timeless wisdom to us – the importance of having an eye for people.
When AI Hears This
When you consider making a fine horse catch mice through thermodynamics, a striking structure emerges.
A fine horse is a “low-entropy system” – its muscles, cardiopulmonary function, and nervous system are optimized for running long distances at high speed. It’s highly ordered toward a specific purpose.
But catching mice requires quick reflexes and agility in tight spaces. It demands a completely different kind of order than the horse’s abilities.
What’s crucial here is that the energy potential of “running ability” the horse possesses dissipates as heat the moment it’s used for catching mice.
It’s like using a precision laser device to hammer nails. Energy that could have done sophisticated microfabrication scatters chaotically into simple impact work.
The second law of thermodynamics teaches that energy naturally flows toward disorder. Once dissipated, it never returns.
A fine horse’s day cannot be recovered. The “ability to run a thousand miles” unused that day is lost forever.
This isn’t mere inefficiency. It’s an irreversible loss that violates the laws of the universe.
Personnel placement failures can be described physically as “irreversible reduction of available energy.” The essence of organizational decline is precisely this entropy increase.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people the importance of understanding their own talents correctly. It takes courage to choose a place where you can use them.
If you feel you’re not fully demonstrating your abilities now, perhaps the environment is wrong.
For those in positions to develop others, it teaches the importance of cultivating an eye for recognizing talent. What are your subordinates’ or juniors’ real strengths?
Where can they shine brightest? Thinking about this becomes the key to growing teams and organizations.
What’s important is understanding that not all jobs have superior or inferior value. Catching mice is necessary work too.
It’s just not work for a fine horse. When everyone shines in roles that suit them, society as a whole becomes richer.
What is your talent? Are you shining in a place where you can use it?
This proverb gives us the courage to believe in our own potential and find the right place for ourselves.
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