Thought Essays ⁽¹³⁷⁾

My birthday falls on the 18th day of the seventh lunar month. As a child, whenever the Ghost Festival arrived, I knew my birthday was near. I was born in the countryside, in a poor family. As a child I ate poorly; most of the…

If I had to claim a particular thinker as my master, I would choose Zhuangzi. Sima Qian wrote a short biography of Zhuangzi, saying that "his learning touched on everything, yet its essence was rooted in Laozi," and that "his words are vast and unbridled,…

My son: You are twelve now. In the Chinese zodiac, twelve years form one cycle; from your twelfth birthday onward, you are entering a new cycle. This cycle is the critical stage in which you move from childhood into adulthood. On this special day, Dad…

I write this title not because I loathe life, but because, just as I love life, I also love death. I live joyfully, and I hope to die joyfully—cleanly, peacefully. Since death is the unavoidable end of all life, there is nothing to reject about…

China's long-standing authoritarian culture and today's rapidly developing society have left many people full of resentment, short-tempered, ready to pick a fight with anyone at any moment. We live in a torn-apart world; this is an undeniable fact, and communication between people is sometimes simply…

One of the most contemptible human behaviors is brainwashing others. Two kinds of people are the most enthusiastic about brainwashing others. The first are those who, once brainwashed themselves, become puppets; driven by prejudice and fanatical, religious-like fervor, they are eager to help brainwash others.

In traditional Chinese art theory there is a view that the "elegant" (yi) grade is the highest form of art. The highest realm of the scholar-official is likewise the recluse who achieves merit without dwelling on it. "Yi" is a pictophonetic character, composed of "rabbit"…

Confucius said: "If the Way is heard in the morning, one may die in the evening content." Buddhism also often says: birth and death are a great matter, and impermanence is swift, so Buddhism often urges its followers to strive in practice, resolve bodhi early,…

From childhood, our teachers and elders taught us that the more friends one has, the more roads one has, encouraging us to make friends widely. From certain angles, such a view is not wrong. But from another angle, more friends also mean more burdens; fewer…

The Confucian classic Daxue (Great Learning) puts forward the life ideal of "if it is made fresh each day, renew it day by day, day after day"—a spirit of constant self-renewal. In the Three Kingdoms period, Lü Meng said another line: "When a scholar has…