Chinese classical literature

  • Zhu Bajie’s Hidden Wisdom: The “Fool” who saw through the game [Journey to the West]

    In China, Journey to the West is a household name, and characters like Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong (Great Sage Equal to Heaven), and Zhu Bajie are widely recognized. However, most people’s understanding comes from adaptations – especially the iconic 1986 TV series – which significantly reshaped Zhu Bajie into a comical, gluttonous, lustful, and…

  • Tao Yuanming

    Tao Yuanming (365–427CE) was a poet of the Eastern Jin dynasty. Also known as Tao Qian, with the courtesy name Yuanliang, he was given the posthumous private honorific title “Jingjie.” He was from Chaisang, Xunyang (in present-day southwestern Jiujiang, Jiangxi). He held several official posts, including Chief Sacrificial Wine Officer of Jiangzhou, Military Advisor…

  • The Goddess of Wu Mountain

    The Goddess of Wu Mountain, according to myth and legend, was the daughter of the Yan Emperor—or, in some versions, the daughter of the Heavenly Emperor – named Yao Ji. She died before ever marrying and was buried on the southern slope of Wu Mountain.

  • Spring Snow [Tang Poems]

    — Han Yu On vernal day no flowers were in bloom, alas! In second moon I’m glad to see the budding grass. But white snow dislikes the late coming vernal breeze, It plays the parting flowers flying through the trees.

  • [Journey to the West]The Truth Behind the Pseudonyms: A Trap of Temptation

    In Journey to the West (Chapter 23: “Four Saints Test the Zen Heart”), the four bodhisattvas disguise themselves as a widow and her three daughters to test the pilgrims’ spiritual resolve. Their names are riddled with homophonic puns and double meanings, critiquing worldly illusions.