The term refers to a state of mind that is completely empty and void. It originates from the book Zhuangzi, in which the meaning of the term was explained by Confucius (551-479 BC) to Yan Hui (521-481 BC). Zhuangzi (369?-286 BC) believed that one’s ears and heart distinguish between oneself and others and between right and wrong, while qi (气 vit…

The way of earth refers to the law by which the earth and all things on it exist and undergo change. The ancient Chinese believed in the oneness of the heaven, earth, and human being. Thus they associated the way of earth with the way of heaven and the way of man. They also considered that the way of heaven and the way of earth establish the order o…

The term describes a state of mind one achieves when appreciating an artwork, in which process one’s inner feelings interact freely and joyfully with nature. In particular, it describes one’s aesthetic experience of appreciating landscape paintings and landscape poems, when one feels absorbed with the natural scenes and images depicted. In his “O…

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