Thought Essays ⁽¹³⁷⁾

When my father named his two sons, he was quite grandiose: he picked our names from Zhuge Liang's line "one's ambition should be lofty," hoping his two sons would one day hold lofty ambitions and accomplish something magnificent. Honestly, from childhood onward, the name "Zhiyuan"…

Every day I receive a flood of recommended articles from WeChat friends—health articles with sensational titles. Most are clickbait pieces written by self-media accounts for marketing purposes, and over 95% of them are not worth reading. Such articles borrow the prestige of some so-called expert…

Thanks to DNA technology and a few coincidental factors, the Baiyin serial murder case, unsolved for 28 years, recently found a suspect, and public opinion erupted in a furor. Long out of the habit of following the news, I followed this story and read my…

On the Zhongyuan Festival, at my respected teacher's home, I discussed with him the topic of the equality of all beings. We eventually reached roughly this consensus: a heartfelt sense of equality requires us not to rush to deny others, nor to insist that one…

Unconsciously, I have now been in the medical profession for some years. Lately, invited by patients, I have been traveling back and forth across the country; when I return to Beijing, those seeking help fill my doorway. Faced with such influence, I will admit I…

Detachment (tuan tuo) means transcending something and thereby slipping free from it. Everyone is born bound, yet essentially few people truly wish to be bound; being bound is a life choice made under duress. This duress may be conscious or unconscious. The conscious kind takes…

The great affliction of human beings lies in always thinking themselves remarkable. To my eye, this is almost a universal flaw, and I myself am no exception. Even a person who does not rush to show off in a group of three or five will,…

Among the various philosophies of survival, the one I most esteem is sui yu er an—being at peace whatever one encounters. Whatever comes, one meets it calmly and takes it as a matter of course, unaffected by the outside world or by one's own lot.

The heart that loves praise and hates blame is the heart of the vulgar man who frets over gain and loss. If one cannot break through this barrier, all one's learning and talent merely serve to deceive the age and steal a reputation. Zhiyuan's note:…

From ancient times to the present, without the criticism of intellectuals, society, culture, and technology could not have made leaping progress. Being a critic takes considerable courage, because the critic often challenges the beliefs of a huge group with only their own strength. Such a…