In ancient China, there was a sage who served a wise emperor. The emperor, impressed by the sage’s foresight and wisdom, asked the sage how the empire could prosper for centuries to come. The sage, understanding the emperor’s desire for eternal prosperity, offered a story instead of advice.
“Your Majesty,” the sage began, “imagine a simple chessboard with sixty-four squares. Upon this board, I shall place a single grain of rice on the first square. Each day, I shall double the grains on the next square.”
The emperor, curious but confident in the empire’s vast stores of rice, nodded in agreement. And so, the sage began.
On the first day, one grain was placed on the first square. The emperor smiled at the simplicity. On the second day, two grains were placed on the second square, and the emperor nodded, still unconcerned. By the third day, four grains were placed, and by the fourth day, eight. The emperor grew slightly intrigued, but it was still a modest sum.
However, as days passed, the number of grains grew at a startling pace—16, then 32, then 64, and by the time the first half of the board was filled, the empire’s granaries began to feel the strain.
As they reached the 32nd square, the emperor’s advisors grew anxious. The rice needed for just that square would exceed the empire’s harvest for the entire year. The emperor began to see the sage’s point, but the sage continued.
“Your Majesty, this chessboard represents more than just rice. It represents the growth of our empire’s population, the vastness of our knowledge, the complexity of our technologies, and the far-reaching networks of our communications.”
The sage continued, “Five hundred years ago, our population was as that single grain of rice—small but full of potential. As we doubled and grew, our people spread across the land, filling it with the energy of life. What was once a simple village became a bustling town, then a city, and then many cities, just as one grain became thousands.”
“With each passing century, our knowledge, like the grains of rice, has multiplied. From the days when we first wrote on bamboo slips to the era when the printing press spread the written word far and wide, our understanding of the world has grown beyond what our ancestors could have imagined.”
“Our technologies, like the rice on the chessboard, have grown more complex. From the humble wheel to the intricate machines of industry, we have doubled and redoubled our creations, until they now cover the land like the grains of rice across this board.”
“And our communications,” the sage concluded, “which once were as slow as a messenger on horseback, have become as swift as lightning, connecting our empire with a web of information as vast and intricate as the grains that now overwhelm this chessboard.”
The emperor, now fully aware of the sage’s wisdom, looked at the board, half of which was yet to be filled. He understood that while the growth of his empire had brought prosperity, it also carried the burden of sustaining such exponential expansion.
The sage bowed and said, “Your Majesty, as the grains of rice double, so do the challenges we face. Just as no empire’s granary can supply the grains to fill the entire chessboard, so too must we be mindful of how we manage the growth of our people, our knowledge, our technologies, and our networks.”
And with that, the sage left the emperor to ponder the balance between growth and sustainability, a lesson as timeless as the story of the rice on the chessboard.
Written by ChatGPT
Directed by Randal Adcock
Randal Adcock 