A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold
Updated 2026-08-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
A Chinese idiom derived from the reputation of Ji Bu, whose single promise was said to be worth a thousand pieces of gold. The model treats trustworthiness as capital: each kept promise raises the value of future commitments and lowers the cost of every transaction, while a single default forces costly repair work. The scope condition is that the promise must lie within the promiser's control, since commitments depending on factors they cannot influence destroy credit regardless of intent.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Feasibility gate: assess whether you control the outcome before promising anything at all. - Progress ping: report status before the deadline so a delay never becomes a broken word. - Asset view: treat each kept promise as capital that lowers the cost of the next deal.
Anchor fast decisions
Reliable delivery reduces the other party's need to monitor, insure, or write elaborate contracts, so transactions close faster and cheaper. That saving is captured by the reliable party as preferential access and better terms, and it compounds, whereas a default retroactively reprices every past commitment as uncertain and forces the whole trust relationship to be renegotiated.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- zdic.nethttps://zdic.net/hans/%E4%B8%80%E8%AF%BA%E5%8D%83%E9%87%91verified
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