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Wang Xizhi had practiced calligraphy with a brush at home for three years. Seeing that his calligraphy still fell short of mastery, he began to wonder: “Everyone says I’m clever. I’ve worked hard for three years, yet my calligraphy isn’t up to par. It must be either because my teacher wasn’t skilled enough or…
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— by Tao Yuanming (Jin) During the Taiyuan era of the Jin Dynasty, a fisherman from Wuling made his living by fishing. One day, he sailed along a stream, forgetting how far he had traveled. Suddenly, he came upon a grove of peach trees lining both banks for several hundred paces. There were no…
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There was a man named Xu who lived outside the north gate of Zichuan in Shandong Province and made a living by fishing.
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The cuttlefish has four pairs of legs which it can draw into its beak, and it can hide its beak under its belly.
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A clam was opening its shell to bask in the sun when a snipe pecked at it. The mussel clamped down on the bird’s beak, and held it fast.
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In Chapter 9 of Journey to the West, significant space is devoted to a philosophical exchange between a fisherman named Zhang Shao and a woodcutter named Li Ding.