Xu Xiake
The Burned Books
When something entrusted to you is destroyed, first say exactly what was lost
The Travel Diaries of Xu Xiake, Chu diary
Something entrusted to you was destroyed on your watch. What Xu Xiake lost on the Xiang river, and how he dealt with it.
What actually happened?
The night of the robbery, the thieves emptied his leather trunk: a preface and letters he was carrying from the writer Chen Meigong to the chief of Lijiang, dozens of letters, and a handwritten travel record by Zhang Zonglian that the family had treasured for two hundred years and he had begged to borrow. Ten volumes of his own collected travel writing burned with several gazetteers. Jingwen pleaded with the robbers, saved the sutras and gathered the scattered books. Xu wrote: it came into my hands and met this disaster; how can I not beat my chest?
Say exactly what was lost
In his diary he listed it item by item: whose draft, letters to whom, which book, where it came from. When you lose something of someone else's, first establish what it was and who it matters to, before you start blaming yourself.
A client's samples broke in the courier. List which items, their value and whether they can be remade, then make the call.
The hardest part is what is worthless to others
He said the letters bound for Lijiang were useless to the robbers and irreplaceable to him. Money can be repaid; this cannot. That is exactly the part to mention first.
You lost a friend's hard drive. You can pay for the drive, not the photos. Talk about the photos first.
If someone offers to chase it, let him
His friend Liu Mingyu swore before a shrine: the money is gone, but the book I will get back for you. Xu protested that it was lost, then let him try. Help is not only money; it is someone carrying the problem for a while.
You lost the team's files and a colleague offers to search the backups. Do not refuse; give him every clue you remember.
How do I use it today?
Where you are: something you were trusted to keep was destroyed in your hands. It was not your loss, and you cannot repay it.
Ask first: what exactly was lost, and who does it matter to most? Which part can money cover, and which cannot?
Where it goes wrong: drowning in guilt and never speaking. Xu wrote down every item. Delay out of shame, and the owner hears it from someone else.
Lines to keep
It came into my hands and met this disaster.
Useless to them, and impossible for me to find again.
The money cannot be recovered. The book I will recover for you.
Same situation, other people are asking
It was my fault and I can't move past it.The more I explain, the worse it gets.I can't say why I did it.I've never told anyone. I've carried it for years.I'm the one who did wrong · all 8 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.