A farmer once saw a hare dash into a tree stump and break its neck. Delighted, he abandoned his plow and sat by the stump every day, waiting for it to happen again.
His fields went to seed. The people of Song laughed at him. No second hare ever came.
宋人有耕者，田中有株，兔走触株，折颈而死。因释其耒而守株，冀复得兔。兔不可复得，而身为宋国笑。
宋人有耕者，田中有株，兔走触株，折颈而死。因释其耒而守株，冀复得兔。兔不可复得，而身为宋国笑。
Reflection & Analysis · 寓意解读
Core Wisdom
Luck is not a strategy. Those who cling to a fortunate accident, hoping to repeat it without effort, will harvest only emptiness.
Han Feizi used this story to mock those who clung to outdated policies because they had worked once. The farmer's error is not laziness — it is pattern-seeking in randomness. He experienced one event and constructed a rule from it.
The idiom "守株待兔" warns against passive waiting for good fortune. The antidote is simple: do the work. Plow the field. Don't wait for the next hare.