Eastern Neighbor Slaughters an Ox
Updated 2026-08-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
A line from the I Ching's After Completion hexagram contrasting the eastern neighbor's grand ox sacrifice with the western neighbor's modest offering, which is said to receive the blessing. Its core proposition is that the size of an expenditure is not the measure of its effect, since a precise effort directed at what matters outperforms a large display aimed at appearance. The qualifier is that this favors precision rather than stinginess.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Purpose first: ask what outcome the spending is meant to produce before comparing budgets. - ROI comparison: compare a large display against a small targeted effort on expected return. - Form audit: check whether the expenditure is producing effect or only appearing to.
Anchor fast decisions
Display-oriented spending is sized to be seen rather than to produce an effect, so its cost rises while its marginal contribution does not. Effort aimed at a specific outcome concentrates the same resources on the point where they change something, which is why the smaller and more precise action can outperform the larger one.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
account_treeGenealogyexpand_more
menu_bookReferencesexpand_more
Source support: Explicit
- zh.wikisource.orghttps://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%91%A8%E6%98%93/%E6%97%A2%E6%BF%9Fverified
PRIVATE NOTES · Only visible to you
SAVED Q&A
ENTRY Q&A · Private saving available
Ask with a clear boundary
thinkingmodels answers from published entry context only.
Your question is sent to thinkingmodels. The answer uses public entry context only.
RELATED MODELS