SuaveG – The Gentle Path

Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature

humility

  • The Chan Master who pocketed his fame

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    Chan Master Chongxian (980–1052), also known as Xuedou Chongxian, was a prominent Chinese Chan (Zen) master of the Song Dynasty. He is best known for his “Collection of Gathas on the Blue Cliff Record” (Biyan Lu), a classic Chan text that became one of the most influential works in Zen literature.

  • An unconventional ordination story

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    Danxia Tianran was a renowned Tang Dynasty Chan master. Ordained as “Tianran,” he earned the name Danxia Tianran after founding Danxia Temple (also known as Red Clouds Temple or Immortal Clouds Temple) on Mount Danxia in Nanzhao County, Henan. Celebrated for his unconventional methods and iconoclastic wisdom, his ordination story epitomizes these traits.

  • What the heart holds, the eye beholds

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    Su Dongpo, the famed poet, shared a close yet playful rivalry with the Buddhist monk Foyin, often trading barbs—though Su usually lost.

  • Wukong – the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven

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    ‌In Journey to the West, the names and titles of the characters often carry specific symbolic meanings.‌

  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 69

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    Chapter 69 employs military metaphors to unveil the Daoist philosophy of ‘retreating to advance’ and ‘softness overcoming hardness’. Lao Tzu first references ancient military wisdom: ‘I dare not take the initiative but prefer to respond; I dare not advance an inch but prefer to withdraw a foot’. This emphasizes avoiding provocation, resisting rash aggression,…

  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 67

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    The Dao, due to its all-encompassing and formless nature, cannot be grasped through the perception of concrete forms. We learn to cultivate the Dao by emulating the sages.

  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 66

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    The reason rivers and seas can become kings of the hundred valleysis that they excel at being lower than them—thus they can become kings of the hundred valleys. Therefore, whenever the sage wishes to lead the people,he places himself lower than them in speech;whenever he wishes to stand ahead of the people,he puts himself…

  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 64

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    Chapter 64 emphasizes preventive action, alignment with natural cycles, and the wisdom of addressing problems before they arise.

  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 62

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    This chapter from Tao Te Ching – Dao De Jing centers on the Dao as the origin of all things and a universal law, emphasizing its all-encompassing inclusivity and redemptive power transcending moral binaries. Both the virtuous (those aligned with the Dao) and the non-virtuous (those yet to awaken to it) can benefit from…