Why Fishing With A Straight Hook?

An anecdote* about the sagely political advisor Jiang Ziya says that when the Shang kings descended into tyranny, he retired to the countryside and took up fishing with a straight hook. When asked what he was doing, he explained that he was waiting for the right fish to come. In his case, the right fish was King Wen of Zhou, who would lead the rebellion to overthrow the Shang and replace it with a benevolent system. (At least according to tradition.) King Wen, a sage king himself, was so impressed by this notion of allowing the fish to come to you that he took Jiang Ziya as an advisor.

What was so wise about this? Basically, Jiang Ziya demonstrated a deep understanding of ziran, which we would understand as autopoesis** and of wuwei, artful nonaction. An idea we see throughout Warring States thought and philosophy is that there efficacious action is reliant on the correct situation; only by acting with the proper time and place can major tasks be completed. Things cannot be forced. By identifying the trends in the world and preparing action that works with these trends, we are able to get the best results.

Complex human systems are the result of layered intentionalities and the palimpsests of past actions. Sustainable, durable social institutions and the change required to actualize them cannot be forced or imposed, it has to be grown because the networks of interdependency and cooperation have to be formed participatorily and the interests of the participants have to be part of the institutional design. The key is to find the seeds for growing these institutions and the conditions required to allow them to grow.

This blog is about my ideas and work in the sustainability field.

*The earliest attestation I am aware of for this story is the Song-Yuan text The Tale of King Wu's Defeat of King Zhou of Shang 武王伐紂評話, but earlier traditions link him with fishing and the text itself expects familiarity with the idiom.

**Now the term is generally translated as nature, but in Warring States Philosophy, it is best understood literally, self-doing.