perspective

  • Clumsy in Using What Is Big

    This commentary analyzes the great gourd and chapped hands medicine parables from Zhuangzi ‑ Xiaoyaoyou. It argues value depends on perspective, highlighting Zhuangzi’s core idea: discovering the hidden “use of the useless”.

  • External outcomes cannot be guaranteed

    This commentary on Zhuangzi ‑ Wai Wu analyses seven fables. It discusses uncertain worldly outcomes, the interdependence of useful‑useless, inner mental space, and the key Daoist maxim: grasp the meaning and forget the words.

  • Your View of the World Is Only as Big as the Mouth of Your Well

    This commentary on Zhuangzi ‑ Qiushui explores perspective relativity via He Bo’s humbling encounter with the ocean. It analyzes the well‑frog parable and the fish‑joy debate, urging us to transcend narrow mental boundaries.

  • 太仓一粟 (Tài cāng yī sù)

    This entry explains idiom “Tai cang yi su” originating from Zhuangzi ‑ Autumn Floods. It compares something to one grain in a huge granary, signifying extreme insignificance against the vast whole and inspiring humility.

  • Chapter 17: Autumn Floods (Qiu Shui)

    This Zhuangzi ‑ Qiushui (Autumn Floods) excerpt uses He Bo and Sea God’s dialogue to teach relativism of size and values. It includes well‑known parables like the well‑frog and the fish‑joy debate, urging humility and natural spontaneity.

  • Seven-Syllable Octave – Reply to Mr. Liu Yazi [Mao’s Poems]

    –Mao Zedong, April, 1949 Tea talks in Canton still fresh in my mind,Verses sought in Chongqing when leaves declined.Thirty-one years back to our native land,When flowers fall I read your writing grand.Beware too much grief that tears your frame;See all things wide with a long, calm aim.Do not say Kunming Lake’s waters are thin;Watching…