“One who responds well to a questioner is like a bell: struck lightly, it gives a small sound; struck strongly, it gives a great sound; given time, it releases its full resonance.” The sentence comes from the Xue Ji, or Record of Learning, in the Book of Rites. The image says that answers should match the depth of the question and leave the questioner time to understand.
The passage first describes skilful questioning, then contrasts skilful and unskilful answering, treating both as ways of advancing learning. Pouring everything one knows into a small question is not necessarily care; giving only a conclusion can also close inquiry down. A good answer listens first and lets its explanation grow with the question's real need, instead of using the answer to display the speaker's knowledge.
https://ctext.org/liji/xue-ji/zh
Discover more from Geoffrey Chen
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.