This commentary on Zhuangzi ‑ Shanxing critiques worldly self‑improvement as self‑defeating. It advocates inner tranquility over accumulating knowledge, warning against becoming “inverted people” who lose their true nature to external things or status.
Han Fei advises rulers to stay calm and non-active. Verify ministers’ words against deeds, enforce impartial rewards and punishments without favoritism.
— Bai Juyi The departing sunbeams pave a way on the river; Half of its waves turn red and the other half shiver. How I love the third night of the ninth moon aglow! The dewdrops look like pearls, the crescent like a bow.
— Du Fu Two golden orioles sing amid the emerald willows; A line of white egrets fly into the blue sky. My window frames the thousand-year snow atop western ranges; My door frames mooring ships ready for their thousand-mile voyage to Eastern Wu.
In stillness, a person’s thoughts are as clear as water, and his true heart can be seen to the bottom.