Xu Xiake
Past Where the Guide Would Go
Go in where others glance and leave, and decide beforehand where you will turn back
The Travel Diaries of Xu Xiake, Guangxi diary, part 1
Others glance and move on; you always want to go in. In the caves of Guilin Xu Xiake changed guides, went deep, and knew where to turn back.
What actually happened?
On the second day of the fifth month of 1637 Xu Xiake entered the Seven Star Cave in Guilin. His guide hurried him past the famous named rocks, the vase, the chess game, the eight immortals. He wrote: what I wanted to see was not here. Outside, he asked a man drawing water whether the stream could be followed inside, hired him on the spot, left his pack at a nearby temple with rice cooking for his return, and went back in. At a black pool the man refused: no one has ever gone further, and the water is high. Xu turned back.
The named places may not be what you want
The guide showed the rocks with names that everyone looks at. Xu wanted to know where the cave went and what it led to. If you want to go in where others pass by, it is often because what you want is not on the list.
Everyone copies the quotes from a bestseller; you want to trace where its key statistic came from.
Find someone who has been deep
The first guide knew only the named rocks. Xu did not barge on alone; he asked a man who drew water there every day and hired him at once. To go deep, first find someone who has actually been deep.
To understand an industry, skip the conference speakers and buy lunch for someone with ten years on the front line.
Being thorough needs a turning point
At the black pool the new guide would go no further, and Xu turned back, noting that he had seen nearly everything both caves offered. Thoroughness is not recklessness; decide in advance where you will turn back.
Digging into a technical problem in your spare time, decide now: no progress this weekend, and you set it aside.
How do I use it today?
Where you are: others glance and move on, you want to go all the way in, and you wonder whether being this thorough over something small is worth it.
Ask first: is what I want simply not on the list? Who has actually been there? Where will I turn back?
Where it goes wrong: thoroughness becomes recklessness. Xu wanted to go further, but when the guide said no one ever had and the water was high, he turned back, which is why he could go in again.
Lines to keep
What I wanted to see was not here.
No one has ever gone in, and the water is high.
Of the two caves' wonders, almost nothing escaped me.
Same situation, other people are asking
It's live and nothing is happening. Do I market it or go talk to people?We hit the numbers and I can't say who we serve.There's no market for this yet. How long can I fund it?Everyone still using it says they like it. Who am I not asking?I'm building something nobody asked for · all 5 questions →If this one named what you are going through,
send it to someone who needs it, or keep it somewhere you will find it again.