LE 06 - Three Monks No water

Three Monks is a Chinese animated feature film produced by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio.

Background :

The film is based on the ancient Chinese proverb "One monk will shoulder two buckets of water, two monks will share the load, but add a third and no one will want to fetch water."The film does not contain any dialogues, allowing it to be watched by any culture, and a different music instrument was used to signify each monk.

Plot :

A young monk lives a simple life in a temple on top of a hill. He has one daily task of hauling two buckets of water up the hill. He tries to share the job with another monk, but the carry pole is only long enough for one bucket. The arrival of a third monk prompts everyone to expect that someone else will take on the chore. Consequently, no one fetches water though everybody is thirsty. At night, a rat comes to scrounge and then knocks the candleholder, leading to a devastating fire in the temple. The three monks finally unite together and make a concerted effort to put out the fire. Since then they understand the old saying "unity is strength" and begin to live a harmonious life. The temple never lacks water again.

Learnings:

Three Monks, No Water is based on the ancient Chinese proverb "One monk will shoulder two buckets of water, two monks will share the load, but add a third and no one will want to fetch water." The proverb is close in meaning to the saying "Let George do it," correctly noting how individuals shirk group responsibilities.
This story teaches a gentle, humorous lesson about Responsibility . Though this story was primarily made keeping in mind young children, it can be of great lesson to modern entreprenuers as well as business institutions. It iterates the fact that the responsibilities in any institutions must be divided clearly and the system should be developed such that any reluctance on any individual must be recognised quickly.

 It also aptly shows how responsibility can be realized by people in case of emergencies. But the lesson is to understand the value of unity before any calamity.