— by Tao Yuanming (Jin Dynasty) Life has no firm and lasting root –It drifts like dust upon the roadside street.Scattered apart, chased by the wind’s turn,This body is no longer what it was before.Once born into this world, we are all brothers –Why must we share only one flesh and bone?When joy is…
This passage recounts Yang Huo’s etiquette trap to force Confucius into office: sending a steamed piglet, then cornering him with Ren (benevolence), wisdom, and “time waits for no one.” It reveals Confucius’ moral dilemma between avoiding a usurper minister and his enduring ideal of practicing the Way (Dao) to save the world.