Once Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn’t know he was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke up, and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuang Zhou. But he didn’t know if he were Zhuang Zhou who had dreamed he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuang Zhou. Between Zhuang Zhou and a butterfly, there must be some distinction! This is called the Transformation of Things.
Zhuangzi
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Namaste! 🦋
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He who dreams of drinking wine may weep when morning comes; he who dreams of weeping may in the morning go off to hunt. While he is dreaming, he does not know it is a dream, and in his dream, he may even try to interpret a dream. Only after he wakes does he know it was a dream. And someday there will be a great awakening when we know that this is all a great dream
Zhuangzi
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deep
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你不要画蛇添足
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The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
Next comes the ruler they love and praise;
Next comes one they fear;
Next comes one with whom they take liberties.
When there is not enough faith, there is lack of good faith.
Hesitant, he does not utter words lightly.
When his task is accomplished and his work done
The people all say, ‘It happened to us naturally.’
Lao Tzu
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Chinese philosophy makes me worried that I'm dumber than fully all Chinese people
That and the alphabet
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猴王穿得像个人一样的走了很长时间。 每天他都在找圣人。 但他只看到那些喜欢钱和名的人。 猴王想，“太不好了！这些人都想要钱和名。 他们都想得到比现在更多的东西。但是他们没有想到会去见阎罗王。 他们真笨！“
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هر گل سرخ خار دارد درست مثل هر شب که طلوع خود را دارد درست مثل هر گاوچران آهنگ غمگین و غمگین خود را می خواند هر گل سرخ خار دارد
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What’s that Schwaster?
it reads like a Bai Hua translation of something classical maybe?
Rham Classical Chinese is weird AF. Even Chinese people don’t really understand it. The poems sound great but if you start talking to normal Chinese people about most of it then they all agree it’s incomprehensibly difficult.
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Looks like a quote from Journey to the West, given the Monkey King references.
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Tripitaka???
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Gesundheit!
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Heck yes.
Thirty spokes are joined in the wheel's hub.
The hole in the middle makes it useful.
Mold clay into a bowl.
The empty space makes it useful.
Cut out doors and windows for the house.
The holes make it useful.
Therefore, the value comes from what is there,
But the use comes from what is not there.
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Is it?
I would have assumed journey to the west was old enough to be written in Classical Chinese.
my chinese is rusty these days tbh.
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It’s 16th century but written in vernacular Chinese.
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Pleasure and rage
Sadness and joy
Hopes and regrets
Change and stability
Weakness and decision
Impatience and sloth:
All are sounds from the same flute,
All mushrooms from the same wet mould.
Day and night follow one another and come upon us
Without our seeing how they sprout!
Chuang Tzu
(Thomas Merton)
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One may well suppose the True Governor
To be behind it all.
That such a Power works I can believe.
I cannot see his form.
He acts, but has no form.
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Pump up the Jam
Pump it up
Whilst your feet are stomping
And the jam is pumping
Look ahead, the crowd is jumping
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My Classical Chinese is rusty but I’m betting it’s The Water Margin.
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猴王说：“是的， 我们今天很开心。 但以后我们还是要去见阎罗王的， 那个地狱的王。 如果我们今天怎么能开心呢？” 当所有的猴子想到死， 他们都开始哭了。
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I feel like these vignettes should be bullet-pointed a la currencyheadwear
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dont get the op
how does he not know this?
i would know this as soon as i woke up
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"I shall think that the sky, the air, the earth, colours, shapes, sounds and all external things are merely the delusions of dreams which he [the evil demon] has devised to ensnare my judgement. I shall consider myself as not having hands or eyes, or flesh, or blood or senses, but as falsely believing that I have all these things." Descartes
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The way never acts, yet nothing is left undone.
Should lords and princes be able to hold fast to it,
The myriad creatures will be transformed of their own accord.
Lao Tzu
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There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same
Laz Too
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what is this cvnts point exactly
lets ponce about making observations without giving any guidance
"you see it is not cup that is important but space inside cup, so you see, nothing is important."
fvck off you bellend
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Knead clay in order to make a vessel.
Adapt the nothing therein to the purpose in hand, and you will have the use of the vessel.
Thus what we gain is Something, yet it is by virtue of Nothing that this can be put to use.
Lao Tzu
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What is the sound of one hand clapping?
Dumb question.
Low moaning to ecstatic wails - depending what the other hand is doing
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Prince Philip hated people of east Asian origin. He was a terrible racist.
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We have seen a fire of sticks
Bum out. The fire now
Bums in some other place. Where? Who knows? These brands
Are burnt out.
Chuang Tzu
(Thomas Merton)
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Man looks at arse and becomes immediately aroused by the great wobbling orbs before him. But it is not the meaty puddings which will deliver what man seeks but the hole which they shamefully hide.
And once man is satisfied is he not doomed to seek yet more arse, in but a few short moments
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Do that which consists in taking no action;
Pursue that which is not meddlesome;
Savor that which has no flavor.
Lao Tzu
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Learn to spell correctly in English and stop cutting and pasting from American websites.
Jethro Smythe
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Great knowledge sees all in one.
Small knowledge breaks down into the many.
Chuang Tzu
(Thomas Merton)
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Governing a large state is like boiling a small fish.
Lao Tzu
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