SuaveG – The Gentle Path

Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature

wuwei

  • Chapter 13. The Way of Heaven (Tian Dao)

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    This Zhuangzi ‑ Tiandao excerpt highlights wu‑wei and inner stillness as governance’s root. It includes Wheelwright Bian’s famous parable arguing books hold only ancient dregs, and debates over artificial benevolence and righteousness.

  • Why Your Best Security System Might Be Working for the Thief

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    This commentary on Zhuangzi ‑ Quqie explains its radical critique: safeguards and sage‑made moral systems get hijacked by powerful usurpers. It advocates returning to ancient plain‑simplicity instead of over‑reliance on man‑made institutions.

  • Chapter 7. Responding to Kingship (YingDiWang)

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    This Zhuangzi ‑ Yingdiwang excerpt explores ideal wu‑wei rulership via fables including Huzi and the shaman. It introduces the mirror‑mind metaphor and concludes with the famous parable of the death of Hundun.

  • Gengsang Chu [Biographies of Noble Scholars]

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    Gengsang Chu, Laozi’s Taoist disciple, brought bumper harvests to Weilui Mountain via wuwei. Villagers wished to worship him as a local deity, yet he refused, believing true sages live in seclusion and let natural Heaven’s Way govern all.

  • Reconnecting the West: Zhang Qian’s Final Mission [Western Han]

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    This article tells Zhang Qian’s final mission to the Western Regions. After Han’s victories over the Xiongnu led by Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, Zhang was sent to ally with Wusun and other states. Though Wusun hesitated, his deputies opened ties across Central Asia, laying the foundation for the Silk Road.

  • 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?”

  • Eating and Sleeping with Awareness

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    One day, Zen Master Yuanlu asked Great Pearl Huihai(Dazhu Huihai): “Venerable, do you also exert effort in practicing the Chan?”

  • Why does Wukong hold great respect for the Gold Star of Venus?

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    In Journey to the West, Sun Wukong(the Monkey King) is notoriously prideful, showing little deference to most gods and buddhas—even high-ranking figures like the Jade Emperor, Tathagata Buddha, and Laozi. However, he harbors genuine respect for two deities: Guanyin Bodhisattva and Taibai Jinxing (the Great White Star, also known as the Golden Star of…

  • The Mind-Control Spell in Journey to the West

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    In Journey to the West, Guanyin Bodhisattva grants Tang Sanzang the ‌Tightening Curse‌ (Tight-Fillet Spell) and its accompanying ‌golden fillet‌ to subdue Sun Wukong.