What to Do When Feeling Lost in Career? Look at the Qian Hexagram Counterattack Story of Yi Gao, a Young Man from the Shang Dynasty

In the final years of the Shang Dynasty, in a shabby alley south of the capital Zhaoge, Yi Gao stared blankly at a bundle of yarrow stalks. He had once been a minor clerk in a government-run pottery workshop, but was kicked out on the spot by the noble-born foreman just for saying, "These clay bodies are too thin; I'm afraid they won't be durable."

Squatting against the wall and gnawing on a millet cake, his mind was flooded with questions from others—what trade should he take up? Should he become a retainer for a noble? Go into the salt trade? Or simply give up and farm the fields? The more he thought about it, the more confused he became, and even the millet cake tasted bitter.

His neighbor was a retired old divination official surnamed Fang, known as Old Man Fang, who made a living by casting hexagrams for people. Seeing Yi Gao squatting there motionless for a long time, he walked over with a half-full jug of wine and said, "Hey there, young fellow, you look so glum. Are things going so badly that nothing you do to fix them works?"

Yi Gao sighed, told him the whole story, then scratched his head and added, "It's not that I'm afraid of hard work. I just don't know where to direct my energy. It feels like all my strength is hitting cotton."

Old Man Fang stuffed the wine gourd into his hand, picked up a twig from the ground, and drew two horizontal lines on the muddy earth. "Do you know what the second line of the Qian hexagram says? 'Seeing the dragon in the field. It is favorable to see the great man.'"

Yi Gao curled his lip. "I've fallen this low, and you're talking about dragons? I'm worse than a worm."

"You don't know a thing," Old Man Fang poked his forehead with the twig. "When you were a hidden dragon, you honed your skills in the pottery workshop—that was hiding. Now that you can't stay hidden any longer, you have to climb out of the abyss and go to the field—not literally to farm, but to go where you can put your abilities to use. Only when the dragon is in the field will people see you."

Seeing Yi Gao was half-convinced, the old man added, "What does 'it is favorable to see the great man' mean? It doesn't mean you should curry favor with powerful people. It means you must first have skills worthy of others' respect, then go to people who can appreciate your talent. If you squat in this shabby alley every day, do you think a noble patron will walk through walls to find you?"

Yi Gao thought about it all night, and the next day he shouldered his bedding and went to the new pottery kiln east of the city. It was a private workshop, and the master potter in charge had been worrying that no one understood the official workshop's regulations. After just three questions to Yi Gao, he decided on the spot to hire him as his assistant.

In less than half a year, Yi Gao improved the clay-preparation method for pottery bodies. The fired pottery was both sturdy and well-shaped, and even merchant caravans from nearby vassal states came specially to place orders. One day, while he was busy at the kiln, he heard someone behind him laugh and say, "The patterns on these clay bodies are even more delicate than those from the official workshops."

Turning around, he saw a middle-aged man in a plain dark robe, followed by several attendants, with a composed and dignified bearing. The master potter beside him quickly tugged at Yi Gao's sleeve—this was an envoy who had just come from Western Qi, who had heard about the fine pottery here and come to see it for himself.

Yi Gao did not panic. He explained every step of the pottery-making process in detail, clearly stating where materials were wasted and where labor could be saved. The middle-aged man nodded repeatedly as he listened, and before leaving, he left a jade disc and said, "My lord is recruiting people who can get things done. If you are willing, go to Western Qi when spring comes."

Only later did Yi Gao learn that the middle-aged man was San Yisheng, a key minister of Western Qi.

When spring arrived, Yi Gao headed west with a simple pack. Passing by Old Man Fang's alley, he saw the old man squatting by the wall sunning himself. Yi Gao stopped to bow, and Old Man Fang squinted and waved his hand. "Go on, go on. The dragon is already in the field now—it can't stay in the mud forever."

The spring breeze blew against the hem of Yi Gao's robe, and he suddenly understood: the so-called "favorable to see the great man" never means waiting for a noble patron to fall from the sky. It means you must first live your life to become the dragon that others can see. As for what to do when you feel lost in your career? The answer has never been in the yarrow stalks—it's on the road beneath your feet.