Tag Archives: Dao

2014 Ran Yunfei: “Zhuangzi As I See Him” 冉雲飛著《莊子我説》Preface

Posted on 12/10/2025 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

I got to know Sichuan writer Ran Yunfei when I worked at U.S. Consulate General Chengdu 2007 – 2012. Ran Yunfei is a fine writer, scholar, and bon vivant.  Lately, studying the Zhuangzi in Chinese with some retired friends we have … Continue reading →

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1788: (V. 1, Ch. 3) Qing Dynasty Ghost Stories 续子不语 (What the Master Would Not Discuss — V.1) by Yuan Mei 袁枚 Chapter 3

Posted on 10/26/2025 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Here are more ghost stories from China’s Qing Dynasty. I’ve added links to notes on the text using ChatGPT5 and Wikipedia. Wikisource has the original text of the entire 《子不語》 What Confucius Would Not Discuss supernatural collection in twenty-four chapters and of the … Continue reading →

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1788: Volume Two (Ch. 3) Qing Dynasty Ghost Stories 续子不语 (What the Master Would Not Discuss — V.2) by Yuan Mei 袁枚 Chapter 3

Posted on 10/24/2025 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Translated below is chapter three of the Qing Dynasty ghost stories compiled by Yuan Mei entitled 子不语 (What the Master Would Not Discuss). The Master is Confucius who famously refused to speculate about gods and demons. “The Master did not … Continue reading →

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Song Dynasty: Guan Yinzi Neo-Daoist Text Chapter Four

Posted on 05/07/2025 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Continuing with Chapter Four of an apparently Song Dynasty Neo-Daoist synthesis text the Guan Yinzi aka Wenshi Zhengjing. Below I have translated the text of chapter four, supplemented it with a ChatGPT4o translation with explanations, and then a ChatGPT4o translation … Continue reading →

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Neo-Daoist Classic Guan Yinzi Chapter Three 關尹子/3

Posted on 04/16/2025 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

On to Chapter 3! The more I work on this, the more I see it as a text for meditation. So I translated it into prose and from there transposed it into free verse. I’ve been reading more about Daoism … Continue reading →

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“The Dao that can be grasped by human beings is not the true Dao” 道可道，非常道

Posted on 11/27/2021 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Verily, the Dao that can be grasped by human beings is not the true Dao.  Keeps philosophers in business as they keep trying nonetheless! “道可道，非常道”是什么意思？ 林小刀What is the meaning of “The Dao that can be grasped is not the True … Continue reading →

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Plagues Then and Now: That Song Dynasty Plague Sounds Familiar!

Posted on 08/17/2020 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Does History Repeat itself? Maybe we can learn from past epidemics. Or maybe we can’t depending on how foolish we are. Thinking in broad terms — in the old days people thought demons played a big part in plague, today … Continue reading →

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