“A good learner allows the teacher ease and gains twice the result, then gives the teacher credit.” The sentence appears in the Xue Ji chapter of the Liji. “Ease” does not mean that the teacher is idle. It means that instruction finds an effective path: less effort from the teacher can yield more understanding in the learner. Traditional commentary takes “gives credit” as acknowledging the teacher’s contribution.
The next line contrasts a poor learner, for whom the teacher works hard for half the result and is then blamed. The passage concerns the way learning advances; it does not place the whole burden on the teacher. Today its restrained lesson is that learners also have responsibilities: organise a difficulty before asking, then test an explanation and transfer it elsewhere. Good teaching can remove wasted effort, but no amount of repeated prompting can do the learner’s understanding for them.
https://ctext.org/liji/xue-ji/ens
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