太tài公gōng釣diào魚yú，願yuàn者zhě上shàng鉤gōu

What does 太公釣魚，願者上鉤 (tài gōng diào yú yuàn zhě shàng gōu) mean?

太公釣魚，願者上鉤 (tài gōng diào yú yuàn zhě shàng gōu) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞). Word for word it reads "Jiang Taigong fishes with a straight hook; only the willing are caught." In use it means: The best way to attract people is not through trickery but through genuine worth; those who come to you of their own accord are the ones worth having. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Water note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Rat.

Literally: "Jiang Taigong fishes with a straight hook; only the willing are caught."

The reading

The hook was straight. The bait was invisible. The fish that came was not tricked. It chose. The recruitment strategy of offering nothing except yourself, and letting the right person recognize the value, is slower than a baited hook, but what it catches does not want to leave.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeshīcí 詩詞
• FocusLooks back
• Element水 Water
• Zodiac tie鼠 Year of the Rat

Source Common folk story; attributed to Jiang Ziya 姜子牙 (Jiang Taigong)

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 Timing & Fortune's Turning, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Rat, Year of the Ox, and Year of the Tiger.