The ancient Chinese came to know early that the nature or state of things change to their opposite under certain circumstances. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Cheng Yi (1033-1107) gave a detailed description of the rules of such change when he argued that “when reaching an extreme, things are bound to revert to their opposites.” This view believes …
Yu (欲) means desire people have when they are attracted by external objects. Such desire, as the condition necessary for existence, should be suitably met. However, excessive desire is detrimental to one’s life and will lead to a decline in public moral and result in social chaos. So both Confucianism and Daoism are against excessive desire. In ad…
A technique or style in creating literary works, it refers to the use of concise language in portraying a simple artistic image, whose rich feelings and implications are elicited in a subtle manner, so that readers can intuit multiple hidden meanings. One finds a straightforward and factual manner of expression in early literary and artistic works i…