Yù bù zhuó, bù chéng qì.*

Lit If jade is not cut and polished, it cannot be made into anything.

Fig One cannot become useful without being trained/educated/disciplined. “Spare the rod and spoil the child.”

Note [Cf. Lǐjì: Xué Jì; Shuō Yuè Quán Zhuàn, chap. 4; note: bùchéngqì is also an idiom for “good-for-nothing; worthless.”]

Topics Book of Rites bùchéngqì DISCIPLINE EDUCATION Lǐjì Shuō Yuè Quán Zhuàn TRAINING Xué_Jì