明年无鱼
Next Year, No FishLake ZPDJ
The end 终

The houses

Jin built the biggest: pagoda

The whole village kept 543 fish.

The lake

年年
有余

Fish to spare

62 grown fish are left of the 165 you found. Left alone for a year, the lake would hold 143. Next year the lake will be as full as you found it.

What happened

  • Year 1Jin bought the first fine net.
  • Year 2DoctorDayTrade netted the golden carp (+8).
  • Year 2The village agreed: no fishing in spring, from year 3.
  • Year 3DoctorDayTrade broke the village rule (no fishing in spring).
  • Year 3Jin broke the village rule (no fishing in spring).
  • Year 3Mei broke the village rule (no fishing in spring).

Every house

Why it went this way
what you found: 165 165 Year 1 138 Year 2 82休 Year 3 86休 Year 4 62禁 Year 5 62 End 143 Next year

Grown fish at the start of each year, at the end, and next year if nobody fishes. A seal marks a year the village kept a rule.

FamilyNetKeptFry takenBroke ruleBroke promiseHouse
DoctorDayTradecoarse16307lanterns 灯笼
Jin (bot)fine25410316pagoda 宝塔
Mei (bot)coarse9106red gate 红门
Old Wang (bot)coarse350tiled roof 瓦房

Why the fine net is hard to refuse

We simulated this lake many times with four families who all aim well, comparing each family with itself: the same lake and the same seat, once keeping a coarse net and once buying a fine net as soon as it could.

Other families with fine netsKeep coarseSwitchSwitching paid
0132.2164.386/96
195.1106.066/96
273.779.564/96
366.564.341/96

Fish each family kept, on average over 24 lakes. Switching paid most families most of the time, until the last one: when the three others already have fine nets, there is too little left to take. If every family keeps a coarse net, each keeps about 132 fish and the lake survived every time; if every family switches, each keeps about 64 and the lake died in all 24. Garrett Hardin called this the tragedy of the commons (1968); H. Scott Gordon had shown in 1954 that an open fishery draws in effort until the extra boats earn nothing.

It is not the only ending

Elinor Ostrom studied fisheries, forests and irrigation systems that lasted for centuries because the people who used them made their own rules, watched each other and answered whoever broke them (Ostrom 1990). In laboratory commons, promises made face to face helped, and promises backed by a way to answer cheaters helped more (Ostrom, Walker and Gardner 1992). Your meeting offered three of the oldest fishing rules: a limit on the gear, a closed season, and a protected nursery. In our simulations with four fine nets, a ban left 173 grown fish for the next year, a protected nursery 116, and a closed spring 51.

Li Ge cuts the duke's net. One summer Duke Xuan of Lu cast his nets in the river Si while the fish were spawning. His officer Li Ge cut the net and threw it away: the old rule spares the roe and the fry, he said, and casting nets while the fish spawn is greed without limit. The duke answered: this is a good net, it taught me the rule; keep it, so I do not forget. 里革断罟匡君 (Guoyu, “Lu Yu I”)

And from the Lüshi Chunqiu, c. 239 BC: 竭泽而渔，岂不获得？而明年无鱼。 “Drain the lake and of course you catch the fish. But next year there are no fish.”

  1. Lüshi Chunqiu, “Yi Shang” (c. 239 BC).
  2. Mencius, “Liang Hui Wang I”: 数罟不入洿池，鱼鳖不可胜食也.
  3. Guoyu, “Lu Yu I”: 里革断罟匡君 (鱼禁鲲鲕; 今鱼方别孕).
  4. Hardin, G. (1968). The tragedy of the commons. Science 162(3859), 1243–1248.
  5. Gordon, H. S. (1954). The economic theory of a common-property resource: the fishery. Journal of Political Economy 62(2), 124–142.
  6. Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the Commons. Cambridge University Press.
  7. Ostrom, E., Walker, J. & Gardner, R. (1992). Covenants with and without a sword. American Political Science Review 86(2), 404–417.
The whole record (432 rows)

This season's secret was 0bbce668b08de7993290b705ed3683f52b60ac407e23176b1c5782d0cb128a5c. Its hash was fixed when the lake opened; with the secret and this record, anyone can replay every fish and every net.

  1. DoctorDayTrade joined
  2. Y1The season started
  3. Y1Mei threw a coarse net
  4. Y1Old Wang threw a coarse net
  5. Y1Mei's net took 2 fish
  6. Y1Old Wang's net took 3 fish
  7. Y1Jin threw a coarse net
  8. Y1Mei threw a coarse net
  9. Y1Old Wang threw a coarse net
  10. Y1Jin's net took 7 fish
  11. Y1Mei's net came up empty
  12. Y1Old Wang's net came up empty
  13. Y1Jin threw a coarse net
  14. Y1Mei threw a coarse net
  15. Y1Old Wang threw a coarse net
  16. Y1Jin's net took 2 fish
  17. Y1Mei's net came up empty
  18. Y1Old Wang's net took 2 fish
  19. Y1DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  20. Y1DoctorDayTrade's net took 4 fish
  21. Y1Jin threw a coarse net
  22. Y1Old Wang threw a coarse net
  23. Y1Jin's net took 5 fish
  24. Y1Old Wang's net took 2 fish
  25. Y1Jin threw a coarse net
  26. Y1Old Wang threw a coarse net
  27. Y1DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  28. Y1Jin's net took 2 fish
  29. Y1Old Wang's net took 1 fish
  30. Y1DoctorDayTrade's net came up empty
  31. Y1Jin threw a coarse net
  32. Y1Mei threw a coarse net
  33. Y1Jin's net took 5 fish
  34. Y1Mei's net took 2 fish
  35. Y1Jin bought a fine net
  36. Y1DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  37. Y1DoctorDayTrade's net took 4 fish
  38. Y1Mei threw a coarse net
  39. Y1Old Wang threw a coarse net
  40. Y1Mei's net took 3 fish
  41. Y1Old Wang's net took 3 fish
  42. Y1DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  43. Y1DoctorDayTrade's net took 8 fish
  44. Y1Jin threw a fine net
  45. Y1Mei threw a coarse net
  46. Y1Old Wang threw a coarse net
  47. Y1Jin's net took 5 fish
  48. Y1Mei's net came up empty
  49. Y1Old Wang's net came up empty
  50. Y1DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  51. Y1Mei threw a coarse net
  52. Y1Old Wang threw a coarse net
  53. Y1DoctorDayTrade's net took 6 fish
  54. Y1Mei's net took 5 fish
  55. Y1Old Wang's net came up empty
  56. Y1DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  57. Y1Jin threw a fine net
  58. Y1Mei threw a coarse net
  59. Y1Old Wang threw a coarse net
  60. Y1DoctorDayTrade's net took 5 fish
  61. Y1Jin's net took 1 fish
  62. Y1Mei's net came up empty
  63. Y1Old Wang's net took 1 fish
  64. Y1Jin threw a fine net
  65. Y1Mei threw a coarse net
  66. Y1Old Wang threw a coarse net
  67. Y1Jin's net took 4 fish
  68. Y1Mei's net took 1 fish
  69. Y1Old Wang's net came up empty
  70. Y1DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  71. Y1DoctorDayTrade's net took 10 fish
  72. Y1Jin threw a fine net
  73. Y1Old Wang threw a coarse net
  74. Y1Jin's net took 3 fish
  75. Y1Old Wang's net came up empty
  76. Y1DoctorDayTrade built tiled roof
  77. Y1Jin built nothing new
  78. Y1Mei built nothing new
  79. Y1Old Wang built nothing new
  80. Y1Old Wang voted: fine nets banned
  81. Y1Jin voted: no rule
  82. Y1DoctorDayTrade voted: no rule
  83. Y1Mei voted: no rule
  84. Y1The village chose: no rule
  85. Y2Jin threw a fine net
  86. Y2Mei threw a coarse net
  87. Y2Old Wang threw a coarse net
  88. Y2Jin's net took 12 fish
  89. Y2Mei's net took 22 fish
  90. Y2Old Wang's net took 5 fish
  91. Y2Jin threw a fine net
  92. Y2Mei threw a coarse net
  93. Y2Old Wang threw a coarse net
  94. Y2DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  95. Y2Jin's net took 19 fish
  96. Y2Mei's net took 2 fish
  97. Y2Old Wang's net took 1 fish
  98. Y2DoctorDayTrade's net took 11 fish
  99. Y2Mei threw a coarse net
  100. Y2Old Wang threw a coarse net
  101. Y2Mei's net took 5 fish
  102. Y2Old Wang's net took 8 fish
  103. Y2DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  104. Y2DoctorDayTrade's net took 11 fish
  105. Y2Jin threw a fine net
  106. Y2Mei threw a coarse net
  107. Y2Jin's net took 10 fish
  108. Y2Mei's net came up empty
  109. Y2DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  110. Y2Jin threw a fine net
  111. Y2Mei threw a coarse net
  112. Y2Old Wang threw a coarse net
  113. Y2DoctorDayTrade's net took 2 fish
  114. Y2Jin's net took 3 fish
  115. Y2Mei's net took 3 fish
  116. Y2Old Wang's net came up empty
  117. Y2DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  118. Y2Jin threw a fine net
  119. Y2Mei threw a coarse net
  120. Y2Old Wang threw a coarse net
  121. Y2DoctorDayTrade's net took 3 fish
  122. Y2Old Wang asked DoctorDayTrade: coarse nets only, until winter?
  123. Y2Jin's net took 8 fish
  124. Y2Mei's net took 1 fish
  125. Y2Old Wang's net came up empty
  126. Y2Jin threw a fine net
  127. Y2Mei threw a coarse net
  128. Y2Old Wang threw a coarse net
  129. Y2DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  130. Y2Jin's net took 10 fish
  131. Y2Mei's net came up empty
  132. Y2Old Wang's net came up empty
  133. Y2DoctorDayTrade's net came up empty
  134. Y2Jin threw a fine net
  135. Y2Mei threw a coarse net
  136. Y2Jin's net took 5 fish
  137. Y2Mei's net came up empty
  138. Y2DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  139. Y2DoctorDayTrade's net came up empty
  140. Y2Jin threw a fine net
  141. Y2Mei threw a coarse net
  142. Y2Old Wang threw a coarse net
  143. Y2Jin's net took 1 fish
  144. Y2Mei's net came up empty
  145. Y2Old Wang's net took 1 fish
  146. Y2DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  147. Y2DoctorDayTrade's net took 2 fish
  148. Y2Jin threw a fine net
  149. Y2Mei threw a coarse net
  150. Y2Old Wang threw a coarse net
  151. Y2Jin's net took 2 fish
  152. Y2Mei's net took 1 fish
  153. Y2Old Wang's net came up empty
  154. Y2DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  155. Y2DoctorDayTrade's net took 5 fish
  156. Y2Jin threw a fine net
  157. Y2Mei threw a coarse net
  158. Y2Old Wang threw a coarse net
  159. Y2Jin's net took 4 fish
  160. Y2Mei's net came up empty
  161. Y2Old Wang's net came up empty
  162. Y2Jin threw a fine net
  163. Y2Mei threw a coarse net
  164. Y2Old Wang threw a coarse net
  165. Y2DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  166. Y2Jin's net took 7 fish
  167. Y2Mei's net came up empty
  168. Y2Old Wang's net came up empty
  169. Y2DoctorDayTrade's net took 2 fish
  170. Y2DoctorDayTrade built red gate
  171. Y2Jin built tiled roof and red gate
  172. Y2Mei built tiled roof
  173. Y2Old Wang built tiled roof
  174. Y2Old Wang voted: fine nets banned
  175. Y2DoctorDayTrade voted: no fishing in spring
  176. Y2Jin voted: no rule
  177. Y2DoctorDayTrade voted: fine nets banned
  178. Y2DoctorDayTrade voted: no fishing in spring
  179. Y2Mei voted: no fishing in spring
  180. Y2The village chose: no fishing in spring
  181. Y3DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net (a breach)
  182. Y3Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  183. Y3Mei threw a coarse net (a breach)
  184. Y3DoctorDayTrade's net took 1 fish
  185. Y3Jin's net took 11 fish
  186. Y3Mei's net took 1 fish
  187. Y3Mei threw a coarse net (a breach)
  188. Y3DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net (a breach)
  189. Y3Mei's net took 5 fish
  190. Y3DoctorDayTrade's net took 1 fish
  191. Y3Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  192. Y3Mei threw a coarse net (a breach)
  193. Y3Jin's net took 11 fish
  194. Y3Mei's net came up empty
  195. Y3DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net (a breach)
  196. Y3DoctorDayTrade's net took 6 fish
  197. Y3Jin threw a fine net
  198. Y3Old Wang threw a coarse net
  199. Y3Jin's net took 15 fish
  200. Y3Old Wang's net took 1 fish
  201. Y3DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  202. Y3DoctorDayTrade's net took 4 fish
  203. Y3Jin threw a fine net
  204. Y3Old Wang threw a coarse net
  205. Y3Old Wang asked DoctorDayTrade: coarse nets only, until winter?
  206. Y3Jin's net took 1 fish and the golden carp
  207. Y3Old Wang's net took 1 fish
  208. Y3Jin threw a fine net
  209. Y3Mei threw a coarse net
  210. Y3Old Wang threw a coarse net
  211. Y3DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  212. Y3Jin's net took 4 fish
  213. Y3Mei's net came up empty
  214. Y3Old Wang's net came up empty
  215. Y3DoctorDayTrade's net took 5 fish
  216. Y3Jin threw a fine net
  217. Y3Mei threw a coarse net
  218. Y3Old Wang threw a coarse net
  219. Y3Jin's net took 3 fish
  220. Y3Mei's net took 3 fish
  221. Y3Old Wang's net came up empty
  222. Y3DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  223. Y3DoctorDayTrade's net took 2 fish
  224. Y3Jin threw a fine net
  225. Y3Mei threw a coarse net
  226. Y3Old Wang threw a coarse net
  227. Y3Jin's net took 6 fish
  228. Y3Mei's net took 2 fish
  229. Y3Old Wang's net came up empty
  230. Y3DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  231. Y3DoctorDayTrade's net took 3 fish
  232. Y3Mei threw a coarse net
  233. Y3Mei's net took 2 fish
  234. Y3Jin threw a fine net
  235. Y3Mei threw a coarse net
  236. Y3Old Wang threw a coarse net
  237. Y3Jin's net took 3 fish
  238. Y3Mei's net came up empty
  239. Y3Old Wang's net came up empty
  240. Y3DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  241. Y3Jin threw a fine net
  242. Y3Mei threw a coarse net
  243. Y3Old Wang threw a coarse net
  244. Y3DoctorDayTrade's net took 4 fish
  245. Y3Jin's net took 5 fish
  246. Y3Mei's net came up empty
  247. Y3Old Wang's net came up empty
  248. Y3DoctorDayTrade built nothing new
  249. Y3Jin built lanterns
  250. Y3Mei built red gate
  251. Y3Old Wang built nothing new
  252. Y3DoctorDayTrade voted: no fishing in spring
  253. Y3Old Wang voted: fine nets banned
  254. Y3Jin voted: no rule
  255. Y3Mei voted: no fishing in spring
  256. Y3The village chose: no fishing in spring
  257. Y4Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  258. Y4Jin's net took 17 fish
  259. Y4DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net (a breach)
  260. Y4DoctorDayTrade's net took 8 fish
  261. Y4Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  262. Y4Mei threw a coarse net (a breach)
  263. Y4Jin's net took 13 fish
  264. Y4Mei's net came up empty
  265. Y4DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net (a breach)
  266. Y4DoctorDayTrade's net took 9 fish
  267. Y4Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  268. Y4Mei threw a coarse net (a breach)
  269. Y4Jin's net took 6 fish
  270. Y4Mei's net took 1 fish
  271. Y4DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net (a breach)
  272. Y4DoctorDayTrade's net took 4 fish
  273. Y4Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  274. Y4Mei threw a coarse net (a breach)
  275. Y4Jin's net took 6 fish
  276. Y4Mei's net came up empty
  277. Y4DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net (a breach)
  278. Y4Jin threw a fine net
  279. Y4Mei threw a coarse net
  280. Y4Old Wang threw a coarse net
  281. Y4DoctorDayTrade's net took 4 fish
  282. Y4Jin's net took 1 fish
  283. Y4Mei's net took 4 fish
  284. Y4Old Wang's net came up empty
  285. Y4DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  286. Y4Mei threw a coarse net
  287. Y4Old Wang threw a coarse net
  288. Y4DoctorDayTrade's net took 1 fish
  289. Y4Old Wang asked DoctorDayTrade: coarse nets only, until winter?
  290. Y4Mei's net took 1 fish
  291. Y4Old Wang's net took 1 fish
  292. Y4Jin threw a fine net
  293. Y4Mei threw a coarse net
  294. Y4DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  295. Y4Jin's net took 1 fish
  296. Y4Mei's net came up empty
  297. Y4DoctorDayTrade's net came up empty
  298. Y4Jin threw a fine net
  299. Y4Old Wang threw a coarse net
  300. Y4Jin's net took 2 fish
  301. Y4Old Wang's net took 3 fish
  302. Y4DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  303. Y4DoctorDayTrade's net came up empty
  304. Y4Jin threw a fine net
  305. Y4Mei threw a coarse net
  306. Y4Jin's net took 1 fish
  307. Y4Mei's net took 2 fish
  308. Y4DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  309. Y4DoctorDayTrade's net took 2 fish
  310. Y4Jin threw a fine net
  311. Y4Mei threw a coarse net
  312. Y4Old Wang threw a coarse net
  313. Y4Jin's net took 4 fish
  314. Y4Mei's net came up empty
  315. Y4Old Wang's net came up empty
  316. Y4DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  317. Y4DoctorDayTrade's net took 6 fish
  318. Y4Jin threw a fine net
  319. Y4Mei threw a coarse net
  320. Y4Old Wang threw a coarse net
  321. Y4Jin's net took 4 fish
  322. Y4Mei's net came up empty
  323. Y4Old Wang's net came up empty
  324. Y4DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  325. Y4DoctorDayTrade's net came up empty
  326. Y4Jin threw a fine net
  327. Y4Mei threw a coarse net
  328. Y4Old Wang threw a coarse net
  329. Y4Jin's net took 3 fish
  330. Y4Mei's net took 1 fish
  331. Y4Old Wang's net came up empty
  332. Y4DoctorDayTrade built lanterns
  333. Y4Jin built upper floor
  334. Y4Mei built nothing new
  335. Y4Old Wang built nothing new
  336. Y4DoctorDayTrade voted: no fishing in spring
  337. Y4DoctorDayTrade voted: fine nets banned
  338. Y4Old Wang voted: fine nets banned
  339. Y4Jin voted: no rule
  340. Y4Mei voted: fine nets banned
  341. Y4The village chose: fine nets banned
  342. Y5Mei threw a coarse net
  343. Y5Old Wang threw a coarse net
  344. Y5Mei's net took 5 fish
  345. Y5Old Wang's net took 2 fish
  346. Y5DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  347. Y5Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  348. Y5Mei threw a coarse net
  349. Y5Old Wang threw a coarse net
  350. Y5DoctorDayTrade's net took 2 fish
  351. Y5Jin's net took 8 fish
  352. Y5Mei's net came up empty
  353. Y5Old Wang's net came up empty
  354. Y5Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  355. Y5Mei threw a coarse net
  356. Y5Old Wang threw a coarse net
  357. Y5DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  358. Y5Jin's net took 3 fish
  359. Y5Mei's net took 2 fish
  360. Y5Old Wang's net came up empty
  361. Y5DoctorDayTrade's net took 3 fish
  362. Y5Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  363. Y5Mei threw a coarse net
  364. Y5Jin's net took 3 fish
  365. Y5Mei's net took 4 fish
  366. Y5DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  367. Y5DoctorDayTrade's net took 2 fish
  368. Y5Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  369. Y5Mei threw a coarse net
  370. Y5Old Wang threw a coarse net
  371. Y5Jin's net came up empty
  372. Y5Mei's net took 5 fish
  373. Y5Old Wang's net came up empty
  374. Y5DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  375. Y5DoctorDayTrade's net took 2 fish
  376. Y5Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  377. Y5Mei threw a coarse net
  378. Y5Old Wang threw a coarse net
  379. Y5Old Wang asked DoctorDayTrade: coarse nets only, until winter?
  380. Y5Jin's net took 5 fish
  381. Y5Mei's net came up empty
  382. Y5Old Wang's net came up empty
  383. Y5DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  384. Y5DoctorDayTrade's net came up empty
  385. Y5Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  386. Y5Mei threw a coarse net
  387. Y5Old Wang threw a coarse net
  388. Y5Jin's net took 2 fish
  389. Y5Mei's net took 2 fish
  390. Y5Old Wang's net came up empty
  391. Y5Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  392. Y5Mei threw a coarse net
  393. Y5Old Wang threw a coarse net
  394. Y5Jin's net took 3 fish
  395. Y5Mei's net took 1 fish
  396. Y5Old Wang's net came up empty
  397. Y5DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  398. Y5DoctorDayTrade's net took 1 fish
  399. Y5Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  400. Y5Mei threw a coarse net
  401. Y5Old Wang threw a coarse net
  402. Y5Jin's net took 3 fish
  403. Y5Mei's net came up empty
  404. Y5Old Wang's net came up empty
  405. Y5DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  406. Y5DoctorDayTrade's net came up empty
  407. Y5Mei threw a coarse net
  408. Y5Old Wang threw a coarse net
  409. Y5Mei's net took 1 fish
  410. Y5Old Wang's net came up empty
  411. Y5DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  412. Y5DoctorDayTrade's net took 1 fish
  413. Y5Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  414. Y5Mei threw a coarse net
  415. Y5Old Wang threw a coarse net
  416. Y5Jin's net took 2 fish
  417. Y5Mei's net came up empty
  418. Y5Old Wang's net came up empty
  419. Y5DoctorDayTrade threw a coarse net
  420. Y5DoctorDayTrade's net took 3 fish
  421. Y5Jin threw a fine net (a breach)
  422. Y5Mei threw a coarse net
  423. Y5Old Wang threw a coarse net
  424. Y5Jin's net took 5 fish
  425. Y5Mei's net took 2 fish
  426. Y5Old Wang's net came up empty
  427. Y5DoctorDayTrade built nothing new
  428. Y5Jin built pagoda
  429. Y5Mei built nothing new
  430. Y5Old Wang built nothing new
  431. Y5The season ended