2025.10.06 - What Kind of Aura, What Kind of Person

Title: 2025.10.06 – What Kind of Qi, What Kind of Person

The Five Realms of Travel

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/TTYAuE5gPtTsFHTNDYnxWg

The purpose of travel is not to escape everyday life, but to gather energy while “being on the move” and reshape a more textured present. Travel lets us bring back the “faraway” gains and re‑examine and love the “right‑here” life. We cross mountains and rivers ultimately to realize that happiness is not a distant, unattainable scenery; it may be hidden in a moment shared over dinner with family, or in the seasonal changes of the plane tree outside the window.

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There’s Always a Pit You Dig Yourself

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/lPUAnCZv-EvT1oHG0EIMcg

People always want to get out of a predicament, thinking that once they obtain something they’ll be free, only to find that there’s always a pit that fits them. They strive hard to jump out of one pit, only to discover they’ve fallen into another. It’s like some cultivation novels: after a lifetime of effort, the protagonist finally seizes a great opportunity, ascends from the mortal realm to the immortal world, and thinks they can live carefree as a superior being. Yet they end up starting from menial tasks again, and the story restarts—another pit to jump. Is digging pits fun? Is this life, this the meaning of life?

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Cai Zhizhong: Life Isn’t a Race, No Need to Cling to the Summit

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/x9r01eRhDGU7_3SPAFMmlg

Many mistakenly believe that Daoist ideas of “preserving weakness, non‑action, uselessness, staying low” encourage passivity and doing nothing. In fact, it’s the opposite: non‑action is not inaction; it means acting in harmony with the Dao, following the patterns of heaven and earth. Non‑action is acting without personal agenda; it is the ultimate expression of purposeful action.

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Eat with the Seasons, Nurture Accordingly

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/OPvEOfa4r43EI1l4pVt5mw

The “earth qi” of seasonal, local ingredients resonates with the human body, embodying the ancients’ wisdom of “eating according to the time.” Whatever the earth yields each season is like a “prescription of the season” for the body. No need for forced tonics—just follow the seasons, and the qi of the food will harmonize the body. Spring foods are light, awakening the body’s rising qi; autumn foods are richer, consolidating qi and nourishing functions. This is “moderation in food and drink,” the simplest path to health.

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Suggestion: Authors Who Write About Education in China, Bring Your Families Out for a Show

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/NTIDhHAXb2GxXHfF0VwXEg

Most books on education today are framed from a Western perspective—either translated from Western authors or Chinese writers adopting Western viewpoints, essentially selling foreign “imported goods,” i.e., comprador literature. But are these imported ideas actually useful or suitable for Chinese people? Xue Renming suggests, “All those who write about education in China, bring your families out and show them to us, so we can all see.”

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What Kind of Qi, What Kind of Person

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/lyKW_sT7L8ULid5F04Ow-A

“Qi” is a heavyweight concept in Chinese culture. The Confucian notion of qi is not the physical or physiological qi of Daoism, Taoist religion, or Tibetan Buddhism, but a psychological qi. On one hand, it is inseparable from the heart‑nature “xing”; Wang Yangming said “qi is xing,” Zhu Xi wrote “the destiny of heaven’s nature, without qi, has nowhere to reside,” and Cheng Yi noted “to discuss nature without qi is incomplete; to discuss qi without nature is unclear; both together are essential.” This provides the foundation and background. On the other hand, qi also has its own independent value and governing role—hence “talent arises from qi.” The former is the focus of Confucianism; the latter is a fleeting glimpse that dazzles the eye. So why say “talent arises from qi”?

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Originally written by Ping Xia (平侠) and published in Chinese on 拾一集 (Weekly Reflections). Translated and adapted for DriftSeas with permission.