SuaveG – The Gentle Path

Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature

non-action

  • Chapter 1: Free and Easy Wandering (Xiaoyaoyou)

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    This excerpt from Zhuangzi‑Xiaoyaoyou uses Kun‑Peng and fable cases. It contrasts small‑great perspectives, explores spiritual freedom and “uselessness”, and advocates the ideal of the Perfect Person transcending worldly dependencies.

  • Han Feizi – Chapter 20.2

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    This Han Feizi passage redefines Daoist emptiness and non-action. True emptiness is spontaneous mental freedom, not forced practice. Natural non-action nurtures virtue and enables effective rule.

  • Han Feizi – Chapter 20.1

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    This Han Feizi excerpt interprets Daoist virtue. True virtue is inner wholeness through non-action and desirelessness, not outward display. Striving for virtue deliberately ruins it.

  • Zi Zhou Zhi Fu [Biographies of Noble Scholars]

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    Zi Zhou Zhi Fu was a man from the time of Emperor Yao. When Yao offered to yield the throne to Xu You, Xu You declined. Yao then offered it to Zi Zhou Zhi Fu.

  • Shan Juan [Biographies of Noble Scholars]

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    Shan Juan was a worthy man of antiquity. Emperor Yao heard that he had attained the Dao and thus faced north to study under him as a teacher. After Yao completed his reign, Shun also offered to yield the world to Shan Juan.

  • The Analects – Chapter 15.5

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    The Master said, “Whoever ruled by non-action (wu wei) – was it not Shun? What did he actually do? He merely sat solemnly and upright on his throne facing south.”

  • Tao Te Ching: The Ancient Chinese Classic of Wisdom and Harmony

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    Among the world’s most influential philosophical texts, the Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) stands out as a masterpiece of brevity and profound insight. Attributed to Laozi (Lao Tzu), a mysterious sage believed to have lived in the 6th century BCE during China’s Spring and Autumn Period, this small book of just 81 chapters…

  • The unobtainable mind

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    Yulin Tongxiu (1614–1675CE), Dharma name Tongxiu, courtesy name Yulin, commonly known as National Master Yulin, was a renowned Chan master of the Linji (Rinzai) school during the transition period between the Ming and Qing dynasties in China. He once served as abbot of Baoren Temple in Wukang, Zhejiang Province. In 1658, he was summoned…

  • A monk of no affairs

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    One day, Chan Master Danxia Tianran lay sprawled across the Tianjin Bridge in Luoyang City. When Governor Zheng Yuqing passed by during an official inspection, his guards demanded: “Why block the governor’s path?”