When Lao Tzu died, Ch’in Yi went to the funeral. He uttered three yells and departed. A disciple asked him, “Were you not our Master’s friend?” “I was,” replied Ch’in Yi. “And if so, do you consider that a sufficient expression of grief at his death?” the disciple asked again. “I do,” said Ch’in Yi. “I had thought he was a secular man, but now I know that he was not. When I went in to mourn, I found old people weeping as if for their children, young ones wailing as if for their mothers. When these people met, they …

Story 1: When Confucius in a Hard Time Confucius once said about his favourite disciple, “Hui is a great gentleman. With a bamboo bowl of rice and a gourd-cup of water he lived in an alley of poverty. Others could not have endured his misery but Hui has never changed his happy disposition. Hui is a real gentleman.” (Analects 6:11) In 489 BC Confucius and his followers entered a war zone, and they were surrounded by hostile armed men for seven days with no food except wild herbs. But Confucius’s spirits were not dampened and he kept singing to his …

(Written by You-Sheng Li ) When Chuang Tzu’s wife died, his friend Hui Tzu came to offer his condolences and found Chuang Tzu hunkered down, drumming on a potter pan and singing. Hui Tzu said, “You lived with her, raised children with her, and grew old together. Even weeping is not enough, but now you are drumming and singing. Is it a bit too much?” Chuang Tzu said, “That is not how it is. When she just died, how could I not feel grief? But I looked deeply into it and saw that she was lifeless before she was born. …

When Master Chuang (Chuang Tzu) was dying, he was lying in a green meadow in front of his thatched hut with his last two disciples sitting beside him. It was such a balmy day that Master Chuang had asked his disciples to move him outside to enjoy the warm fragrance of the early autumn. Master Chuang was on a straw mattress with a few wild fruits, red, orange, and yellow, scattered on the green grass beside the mattress. A small bowl of tea had just been boiled and its vapor rose like a silver serpent under the sun. One of …

Story 1 : Confucius and Arguing Children (Written by You-Sheng Li) When Confucius was traveling towards the east of China, he came cross two boys arguing bitterly with each other. Confucius asked what their dispute was about. One boy said, “I believe that the rising sun is closer, and the midday sun is further away.” The other boy said, “I think the opposite is right: the midday sun is closer, and the morning sun is farther.” The first boy said, “The rising sun is as big as the wheel of a vehicle, and the midday sun is only the size …

The Founders of Taoist Philosophy, and Their Lives Written by You-Sheng Li Lao Tzu (?604-484 BC) and Chuang Tzu (?369-286 BC ) are widely regarded as the founders of Taoism though the Taoist traditions may go some two thousand years further back. We know little about the two founders except the books they have left to us. They pursued a life of non-action, and fame was not their goal. If few knew them when they were alive, historians only had fragmentary information to write down. Lao Tzu was the curator of the royal library and was contemporary but senior to …

Story One A low ranking court official from Sate Chen visited State Lu, and talked to Lord C-Sun privately. C-Sun told this official, “Our state has a sage.” The official asked, “Is that Confucius?” “Yes,” C-Sun answered. The official asked, “How do you know he is a sage?” C-Sun said, “I often heard his disciple say that Confucius uses his form, the body, without using his wisdom.” In his later years, Confucius had reached a state of perfection: He followed the dictates of his heart, and whatever he desired was within the boundaries of righteousness. Then the official said, “My …

By You-Sheng Li 551 BC Confucius was born. Confucius’ father was a low ranking military officer. Confucius’ parents had prayed to gods at a nearby hill to let them have a son, and so they named their son after the hill they had prayed, 丘hill. Confucius’s full name was 孔丘, khon chiu. 549 BC Confucius’ father died. Confucius’ mother took Confucius and his brother to live with her own family inside the capital of State Lu. 537 BC 15 years old. The Chinese count the number of calendar years one has lived through as one’s age, which is usually one …