長cháng木mù匠jiàng短duǎn鐵tiě匠jiàng

What does 長木匠短鐵匠 (cháng mù jiàng duǎn tiě jiàng) mean?

長木匠短鐵匠 (cháng mù jiàng duǎn tiě jiàng) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "The carpenter measures long, the blacksmith measures short." In use it means: A carpenter always cuts wood a bit long because excess can be trimmed, while a blacksmith cuts metal a bit short because forged iron cannot easily be lengthened. Each trade has its own logic of error correction. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Metal note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Rooster.

Literally: "The carpenter measures long, the blacksmith measures short."

The reading

Every craft develops its own relationship with mistakes. The carpenter knows that extra length is a gift, easily removed with a plane or saw. The blacksmith knows that surplus metal creates a different problem entirely. These two opposite instincts, both correct within their own domain, remind us that wisdom is always fitted to the material at hand. What saves you in one trade ruins you in another.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element金 Metal
• Zodiac tie雞 Year of the Rooster

Source Chinese artisan folk saying, widely recorded in trade proverb collections

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Wisdom & Learning, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Rooster, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.