This is a true story that happened in a Japanese-run prisoner-of-war (POW) concentration camp during World War II that was located in China. Every day, the Allied POWs had to do 15 hours of hard labor. The quality of the food served to the prisoners was poor and the available amount of food was very ...
When Confucius questions two magistrates, they perceive gain and loss very differently. Kong Mie was a nephew of Confucius, while Bi Zijian was a student. Both of them were magistrates of two different counties. One day, Confucius visited Kong Mie. On the way, he saw that many fields were deserted and overgrown with weeds. A group ...
The 8 Cardinal Virtues refer to 忠 (zhōng), 孝 (xiào), 仁 (rén), 愛 (ài), 信 (xìn), 義 (yì), 和 (hé), and 平 (píng), which are the criteria that Confucius left for people to follow. They are regarded by the Chinese as the moral foundations of society. Failing to behave according to these moral standards, you would not ...
There was a saying by Confucius: “Riches and honors acquired by unrighteous means are like floating clouds to me.” In other words, taking ill-gotten gains and self-interest will bring disasters because this is not the right way. How many real-life stories in the history of mankind reveal this truth to the world? Rich man’s son-in-law ...
Jade is synonymous with Chinese culture, ancient and modern. Jade has been attributed with many fine virtues over the millennia. In this article, we will discuss the traditional “Five Virtues of Jade.” The Five Virtues of Jade are: 1. Benevolence, 2. Righteousness, 3. Intelligence, 4. Courage, 5. Cleanliness. The Chinese philosopher Confucius made jade a ...
In ancient China in the state of Song, there lived a family who tried to maintain faith in themselves and others and followed the principles of kindness and justice for many generations. They always put these principles into practice in their daily lives. One day, a black cow they owned gave birth to a white ...
Although much of Chinese philosophy began in the Warring States period, Chinese philosophers have existed for several thousand years. Some can be found in the I Ching (the Book of Changes), an ancient compendium of divination, which dates back to at least 672 B.C. It was during the Warring States era that the major philosophical schools of China — ...
Well goes an old saying: “Of all virtues, filial piety is the first (百善孝為先).” It is the traditional virtue of respecting and caring for one’s parents and ancestors. The Chinese character for filial piety The Chinese character 孝 xiao is made up of two parts. The upper part is the character 老 (lao), which denotes ...
Lin Zexu (林則徐, 1785-1850) was an honest official in the late Qing Dynasty known for his strict crackdown against the opium trade. In 1839, he made a tour of Macao and, seeing the ills plaguing society, penned 10 maxims based on his 54 years of experience to warn against the futility of performing superficial good ...
Yan Hui, also known as Yan Yuan, was an ancient Chinese philosopher from the state of Lu (521-481 B.C.). He was the favorite disciple of Confucius and ranked number one among the 72 disciples of Confucius. Yan Hui was born into a poor family but was accepting of his situation. He was smart, diligent in ...
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