聞wén道dào有yǒu先xiān後hòu，術shù業yè有yǒu專zhuān攻gōng

What does 聞道有先後，術業有專攻 (wén dào yǒu xiān hòu shù yè yǒu zhuān gōng) mean?

聞道有先後，術業有專攻 (wén dào yǒu xiān hòu shù yè yǒu zhuān gōng) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞). Word for word it reads "hearing the Way has earlier and later, skill and profession have specialization." In use it means: Some learn the Way before others; everyone has their area of expertise; respect both seniority in learning and specialization. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Wood note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Ox.

Literally: "hearing the Way has earlier and later, skill and profession have specialization."

The reading

The carpenter knows things about wood that the scholar does not, and the scholar knows things about texts that the carpenter has not needed to know. There is no hierarchy between these wisdoms, only the recognition that knowing arrives in different orders for different people, and that expertise lives in particular domains, not in persons as undivided wholes.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeshīcí 詩詞
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element木 Wood
• Zodiac tie牛 Year of the Ox

Source Han Yu 韓愈·《師說》 (Shī Shuō, On Being a Teacher, Tang Dynasty essay)

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 Ox, Year of the Frog, and Year of the Rat.