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Happy Wandering: Zhuangzi’s Ultimate Philosophy of True Freedom
This commentary on Zhuangzi‑Xiaoyaoyou explores true spiritual freedom. Analyzing Kun‑Peng and key fables, it discusses relativity of perspectives, “no‑dependence”, and the wisdom that uselessness can be great use.
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井底之蛙 (jǐng dǐ zhī wā)
Coming from ancient Chinese classics, the idiom “a frog in a well” paints a vivid metaphor. Confined inside a well, the frog mistakes the small circle of sky for the whole universe. It describes people trapped by their limited experience, unaware of the wider world, and serves as a reminder to avoid narrow‑minded complacency.
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Chapter 1: Free and Easy Wandering (Xiaoyaoyou)
This excerpt from Zhuangzi‑Xiaoyaoyou uses Kun‑Peng and fable cases. It contrasts small‑great perspectives, explores spiritual freedom and “uselessness”, and advocates the ideal of the Perfect Person transcending worldly dependencies.
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Reproving My Sons
— by Tao Yuanming (Jin Dynasty) White hair drapes across both my temples,My skin and flesh are firm no more.Though I have five sons,Not one takes pleasure in paper and brush.A-Shu has reached twice eight,Yet in laziness he has no equal.A-Xuan approaches the age of aspiring to learn,But has no love for letters and…
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Returning to My Fields and Gardens (5 of 5)
— by Tao Yuanming (Jin Dynasty) Disheartened and resentful, I walk home alone with my staff,Traversing rugged paths through tangled thickets.The mountain stream is clear and shallow –Enough to wash my feet.I filter my newly brewed wine,And invite my close neighbors with a single chicken.When the sun sets, the room grows dark;I light brushwood…
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Self-Elegy
The year is Dingmao (丁卯), and the month corresponds to Wushe (无射, the ninth lunar month). The weather is cold, the nights are long, and the wind is bleak and desolate. The wild geese are migrating, and the grass and trees have turned yellow and shed their leaves. I, Master Tao, am about to…