Thought Essays ⁽¹³⁷⁾

Human beings are complex animals, with a hypocritical and cunning side; few people are entirely truthful. Many years ago I read a book titled Lying: What You Don't Know About It, by an American expert on lies named Charles Ford. I have forgotten most of…

When a person has many faults but does not know it himself, and ceases the striving of his heart, his sins come upon him like water flowing into the sea, gradually growing deep and broad. But if a person who has faults understands his errors,…

In an era saturated with noise, silence and stillness have become exceedingly rare. Everyone is in a hurry to express themselves to the world in one form or another—through words or through adornment—displaying themselves to the full. We have forgotten that a certain innate human…

There is a Chinese saying: "It is easier to change rivers and mountains than a person's nature." Once a character has formed, it is very hard to change, which is why people often say: character determines destiny. But in the course of studying medicine and…

I have long admired an old TCM physician named Li Zhijian. Apart from me, probably no one on the internet mentions him. He is nearly a hundred years old; though frail with age, he still diagnoses and treats people. He should never have done any…

The article pushed today is a post by a netizen named “Qingxin 2007,” posted on the 19Lou forum, recounting her desperate decision to seek medical care in the United States. It is well worth deep reflection. During the 2012 Spring Festival, her husband was diagnosed…

Only when you like someone can you spend a lifetime with her (or him). Only when you like something can you do it tirelessly, never tiring of it. Only when you like your life can you live happily. Liking is the source of vitality, the…

Han culture has two features: one is valuing face; the other is abundant strife. Relatives and friends care most about face; to keep up appearances, they often swell up their faces and pretend to be fat. As for strife, even trifling matters are dragged back…

I was born in an ordinary, clan-based village in eastern Hubei. My childhood was happy. I and my childhood friends played hide-and-seek among the haystacks, caught fish and frogs in the fields, climbed trees to rob birds' nests, gathered wild fruits and vegetables, and stole…

This is a speech by Professor Shi Yigong. It is wonderfully delivered; I transcribe it in full here to encourage myself. The full text follows: Good morning, everyone. It is a great pleasure to share some of my thoughts with the graduate students here. In…