SuaveG – The Gentle Path

Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature

delusion

  • Precious (Ah-Bao)

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    Ana

    Sun Zichu, a celebrated man of letters of Guangxi, had a sixth finger growing on one of his hands. He was unrealistic by nature, halting in speech and inclined to accept the deceitful words of others at face value.

  • Awakening from Illusion in “The Painted Wall”

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    Ana

    There is a scene in The Painted Wall(The Mural), from Strange Tales from Liaozhai Studio, sounds ridiculous yet conveys profound meaning.

  • The ginger that grew on trees

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    Ana

    In the state of Chu lived a man who did not know where ginger grew.

  • Key of a stolen bag

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    Ana

    There was once a fool who, on coming to the capital for the civil examination, discovered that he had lost his leather bag.

  • Waiting by the stump for more hares

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    Ana

    There was a peasant in the state of Song. One day a hare dashed up, knocked against the stump in his field, broke its neck and fell dead.

  • Neither One Nor Three

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    Ana

    Chan Master Wuzhu (714–774 CE), founder of the Baotang School — one of Tang Dynasty’s ten great Chan lineages — studied under Master Wuxiang at Chengdu’s Jingzhong Temple and became his Dharma heir. Master Wuzhu taught “no-thought” Zen, guiding seekers beyond dogma. His school’s essence lay in “Any arising thought is delusion; cease the…

  • The whole universe is an eye

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    Ana

    A monk asked Master Xishan: “What is Bodhidharma’s purpose coming West?”Xishan answered by raising his whisk. Dissatisfied, the monk sought Master Xuefeng.

  • Nanquan Slays the Cat

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    Ana

    Chan Master Nanquan Puyuan (748–834 CE) was a respected disciple of Mazu Daoyi, one of the great figures in Tang Dynasty Chan Buddhism. Master Zhaozhou Congshen was a highly influential Chinese Chan Buddhist master of the Tang Dynasty. A key disciple of Master Nanquan Puyuan, he is celebrated for his profound yet unconventional wisdom…

  • Monstrous King of Havoc in Journey to the West

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    Juan

    In Journey to the West, the first demon killed by Sun Wukong (the Monkey King) is the Monster King of Calamity(or Monstrous King of Havoc). This episode carries profound symbolic meaning rooted in Taoist cosmology.