One famous Chinese proverb goes something like this: “The flatterer makes you climb up a tree then takes the ladder away”. There are many Chinese proverbs taken from literature, history and the words of famous speakers and philosophers. The Chinese have literally hundreds of proverbs addressing all aspects of life from education to work, from personal goals to relationships. A number of them include references to ladders, but this one is slightly more obscure.

Taking Away The Ladder

Much of Chinese tradition is rooted in a deep relationship with the natural world, a relationship which many rural provinces still hold close to their hearts today. This is reflected in the inclusion of a tree in this particular lesson, which was used to teach young children how not to be deceived by the flowery words of someone who may not be completely honest. Flattery is supposedly what gets you everywhere and it is human nature to try and get what we want with the minimal amount of effort. It is far preferable to use someone else to do the hard work than to do the hard work yourself. The flatterer will therefore stroke the ego of someone less secure of themselves and persuade them that they are better than they perhaps actually are at a specific point in their lives. They would then use this increase in confidence to their own ends. Unfortunately, once someone has climbed up the ladder and into the tree, they realise that they have fallen victim to the flatterer: there is no way to return to the ground and learn the lessons that you needed to learn before climbing the tree with true self confidence and ability. Ladders in Chinese proverbs are used often to refer to an improvement in life’s circumstances, but in the wrong hands, they can be climbed by those who are not yet strong enough to face what is at the top.