“The exemplary person is not different by nature, but is skilled at making use of things.” The sentence appears in Xunzi's “Encouragement of Learning”. Sheng means one's nature, while jia means to borrow or make use of. The preceding lines describe someone travelling far by using a carriage and crossing a river by using a boat: their own feet or swimming ability have not changed, but a tool has extended their range.
Xunzi is not praising shortcuts. He is rejecting the idea that achievement must come from exceptional inborn qualities. Learning, teachers, companions, institutions and tools may all become things we use well. The sentence also retains a boundary today: assistance can extend capacity, but it cannot replace judgement about purposes, methods and consequences. The user of the tool remains responsible.
https://ctext.org/xunzi/quan-xue/zh
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hans/%E8%8D%80%E5%AD%90/%E5%8B%B8%E5%AD%B8%E7%AF%87
Discover more from Geoffrey Chen
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.