What connections can I make between A Single Shard and the world?

One way that this tale connects with contemporary reality is through its emphasis on the importance of creativity. While the senior potter has achieved mastery of his art, he has also gotten stuck in a fixed attitude toward the work. The joy of creating, which comes from infusing new energy into the process and from innovating, has largely left him.
The freshness and innocence that the boy brings to ceramics is necessary, but not sufficient to enable him to make the kinds of beautiful things that the potter excels in. Whatever the art, practice and discipline are also needed to succeed. There is no substitute for his own creative spirit, but he needs a mentor and knowledge of the whole process.
Furthermore, the idea of getting past a setback is emphasized. The boy's journey brings the tragic loss of almost all the pots. But the boy still has the last shard, which contains all important essences of the potter's gifts. The boy had to follow all the steps in his journey.

A Single Shard tells the story of a young boy whose enthusiasm repeatedly causes him to make errors that he could have avoided by being more careful. These errors cause him to harm the very thing he's enthusiastic about: first, Min's pottery; then, Min's chance to be potter for the Emissary. Making mistakes like this is a very relatable experience for many people.
Through these experiences, Tree-ear remains hopeful, and he works hard to correct his errors. This is a common character trait in stories that is also borne out in the world. Tree-ear's third mistake happens out of chance, rather than because of his overeagerness, but Tree-ear is just as enthusiastic to correct it as ever. The forgiveness he is shown by the Emissary when Tree-ear presents the broken pottery shard is a way of showing the Emissary's humanity; this is another connection between the story and the real world.

A Single Shard shows us that the world is often an unfair and harsh place, but offers lessons about how to deal with it that we can apply to our own lives. While we, of course, don't live in twelfth-century Korea, we do face some of the same challenges that Tree-ear does. For example, Tree-ear desperately wants to learn to make pottery on the wheel but cannot do so because that knowledge is reserved for Min's sons. In our world, we might face a similar problem if we want to learn something, for instance, to become a doctor but can't because we don't have the money for medical school. The book shows, however, that being honest, helpful and learning everything possible can open doors for us in unexpected ways. We shouldn't give up.
We also learn a life lesson from the book about generosity, loyalty and caring for others that we can apply to our world. Even though it means he has less to eat, Tree-ear always saves half his lunch for Crane-Man. In our world, we too can remember not to leave people who have helped us behind when we begin to be successful. An overall lesson that we can apply is that, whether we realize it or not, people watch and notice what we do and how we behave—especially the small things we do—and this influences how they treat us and the opportunities they offer us.