Once upon a time, there was a man who wanted to go to the state of Chu in the south. He prepared a great deal of stuff, found a carriage, and also took enough money for the journey. However, he made a very strange decision.
He had the coachman drive the carriage and set off towards the north. His friend saw this and was very astonished, so he ran over and asked him, "You are going to Chu. Chu is in the south. Why are you walking towards the north?" The man replied nonchalantly, "My horse is very strong and runs extremely fast. There's no need to worry about not reaching Chu."
His friend listened and anxiously pointed to the south, saying, "But your direction is wrong. No matter how fast your horse is, walking in the wrong direction will only take you further and further away from Chu." The man shook his head indifferently and said again, "I have brought enough money. I'm not afraid of how far I have to go."
The friend listened to his words, shook his head helplessly, and continued to persuade, "Although you have enough money, your direction is wrong. This is the fundamental problem. Moreover, no matter how skillful your carriage coachman is, he can't take you to Chu because you are walking in the opposite direction." However, the man was still stubborn and simply wouldn't listen to his friend's advice. He firmly believed that he could reach Chu. So, he had the coachman continue to drive the carriage galloping towards the north.
This story tells us that no matter what we do, we must first find the right direction. If the direction is wrong, no matter how good the conditions are, we will only get further and further away from our goal.
