The foolish ox deserves to die – methods are more important than diligence

Author: Su Chunli
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: The ox is passive and timid. Lively, enthusiastic, unrestrained, daring, sharp-edged, courageous in creation, and full of vitality—these excellent qualities have never been present in the ox. The ox always does things cautiously, shirking and lacking autonomy and independence. The ox tends to consider more "how am I treated" rather than "how am I doing" or "what I should do." The ox lacks the bold spirit and daring to take matters into their own hands and relies too heavily on the opinions of parents, relatives, colleagues, and superiors, lacking the bold momentum and fiery. The ox blindly follows the crowd. One face, one voice, following the trend—these are the other major weaknesses in the ox's personality. Proverbs like "Weakness attracts attention," "Shoot the pheasant that sticks its head out," "The rafter that sticks out rots first," and "People fear fame, pigs fear strength" are deeply ingrained in the ox's way of dealing with the world. This has a profound impact on them, and they never dare to stand out, making it impossible for them to rise above the rest. The ox is overly introverted. The ox never readily expresses opinions or reveals emotions and often evades issues with vague and ambiguous language, rarely saying "yes" or "no" clearly, but rather "maybe" or "it's not certain." They believe "disputes arise from too much talk," which seems cunning and deeply calculating, but in reality, it stems from a lack of confidence. Uncertain within, they dare not show it outwardly; unable to defend themselves, they fear attracting trouble. As a result, they lack charm and conviction, merely following the crowd. The ox is timid and weak. The ox is often overly sensitive and emotionally fragile, tiring of striving upward. They often feel overwhelmed and anxious before even starting a task, and before facing any real setbacks or blows, they already lose heart. Over time, they develop a mindset of "avoiding confrontation and taking the path of least resistance," doing whatever is easiest and simplest. They view retreating when facing difficulties, detouring, or passing the buck as "wise choices." The ox's personality is aged. Descriptions like "full of passion, with a surging, relentless youthful vitality" are completely alien to the ox. They are always content, desire little, follow nature, and live in tranquility, with minimal emotional fluctuations, so calm that it's almost eerie. Despite lacking ambition, they consider themselves steady and mature. Young, yet prematurely aged in character. This conservative, compliant, timid, and aged personality was once highly praised, but it increasingly clashes with today's open, pioneering, competitive, and rapidly changing era. Of course, the ox also has its unique strengths, and perhaps what they retain in industry is the shining gold that we should not discard. We do not believe the ox is entirely useless, nor are we quick to condemn them. Our goal is to help the ox overcome their difficulties, address their shortcomings, and fully leverage their strengths, so that everyone understands the ox's plight and realizes that one should not be as spineless as the ox. This book analyzes the ox from all aspects—social interaction, mindset, love, career, communication, problem-solving, and personal conduct—to understand, interpret, and assist the ox and those like them. Using the ox as a metaphor for people, it provides a profound and objective analysis of the ox's shortcomings from a humanistic and realistic perspective, offering effective and practical methods and techniques for the ox. We believe it will be helpful to every friend who shares similar traits with the ox.