SuaveG – The Gentle Path

Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature

contentment

  • The Owl and the Phoenix

    •

    This interprets the owl and phoenix parable from Zhuangzi ‑ Autumn Floods. Huizi, fearing Zhuangzi will seize his ministerial post, is compared to an owl guarding a rotten rat, blind to the noble bird’s disdain for worldly power.

  • When a Bandit Challenges Confucian Morality

    •

    This commentary on Zhuangzi ‑ Daozhi features three fictional dialogues. Robber Zhi and other figures assail conventional Confucian morality, exposing its hypocrisy and urging people to cherish their innate inborn nature.

  • Value Your Life Above Kingship, Wealth and Power

    •

    This commentary on Zhuangzi ‑ Rang Wang gathers fables stressing valuing innate life above kingship and wealth. It also notes textual tensions: some tales celebrate moral suicide, conflicting with its core cherish‑life theme.

  • Chapter 28. Yielding the Throne (Rang Wang)

    •

    This Zhuangzi ‑ Rang Wang collects fables of hermits rejecting thrones, rank and wealth. It advocates cherishing one’s inner life above worldly power, holding politics as secondary to personal spiritual cultivation.

  • 鸡犬相闻 (jī quǎn xiāng wén)

    •

    This entry explains idiom “Ji quan xiang wen” from Dao De Jing. It originally depicts contented small communities, yet its modern meaning describes physical proximity alongside social isolation and lack of interaction.

  • Biography of the Five-Willow Gentleman

    •

    The gentleman – no one knows where he came from, nor his family name or given name. Beside his house there are five willow trees, so he takes that as his style. He is quiet, tranquil, and sparing of speech; he does not covet fame or profit. He loves to read, but does not…

  • Ān Bù Dāng Chē (安步当车)

    •

    Basic Information Chinese Idiom: 安步当车Pinyin: ān bù dāng chē Literal Meaning: Take leisurely slow walks as if riding a carriage. Figurative Meaning: Lead a simple, tranquil life without craving luxurious transportation or material comforts; walk unhurriedly and contentedly instead of taking a vehicle. It also embodies a calm, peaceful mindset that finds satisfaction in plain living.…

  • Rong Qiqi [Biographies of Noble Scholars]

    •

    Poor hermit Rong Qiqi plays zither and sings at Mount Tai. Asked by Confucius why he rejoices, he names three blessings: being human, male and long-lived. He accepts poverty and death as natural, embodying Daoist contentment with simple existence.

  • Han Feizi – Chapter 23.11

    •

    Han Feizi records Duke Huan’s question about wealth’s limit. Guan Zhong compares wealth’s boundary to a riverbank: satisfaction sets wealth’s end, yet endless greed leaves people chasing riches without any natural cutoff.