In Chapter 2, of Chuang Tzu’s Adjustment of Controversies, Chuang Tzu tells us about his dream of being a butterfly. He dreamt that he was a “butterfly flying about, feeling that it was enjoying itself” (2.14). During this dream, Chuang Tzu had no idea that he was, in fact, Chuang Tzu; however, upon awakening, he was again “the veritable Zhou” (2.14). Chuang Tzu’s dream seemed so real that Chuang Tzu wasn’t sure if he was actually awake. He wonders if he dreamt “that he was a butterfly, or […] a butterfly dreaming that it was” (2.14) Chuang Tzu? This dream is so persuasively realistic that it causes Chuang Tzu to question his own existence as a human being; but, “between Zhou and a butterfly there must be a difference. This is a case of what [Chuang Tzu] called the Transformation of Things” (2.14). According to Liu, the butterfly dream demonstrates four arguments. First, “dreams seem to us as real as when we are awake” (Liu 161). Second, “when we are dreaming, we never know that it was just a dream” (Liu 161). Third, “when we think we are awake, we could also be dreaming” (Liu 161)....
Where will America be in a few thousand years; will we retain our current culture or continue to grow, thrive, and adapt to our surroundings? While these are important questions for our country’s future, many of the answers can already be found in one of the oldest civilizations on the planet, China. Chinese culture has been formed and reformed many times throughout its expansive history, and with changes in rule and structure, there have also been changes in philosophy and culture. Confucius emerged as a prominent figure in Chinese philosophy and managed to grow in popularity through time with his famous teachings, including those in his Analects. The philosophies of Daoism emerged later through many writings including the prominent Daodejing, written by philosopher Laozi. Although Confucius’ Analects and Laozi’s the Daodejing have both influenced Chinese culture, their primary goals for society differ in many ways.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” (BAM, 2010, p.20) These words were first written down over 2,400 years ago by a Chinese general named Sun Tzu in his famous military strategy treatise known today as The Art of War. These words, in fact the entire book, are just as valid today as they were during Sun Tzu’s lifetime. He was one of the first truly visionary and ethical military leaders in the world. Despite the fact that there is not much known about Sun Tzu today other than his writings, in this essay, I intend to extract his essence from his treatise to prove he was a visionary leader. I will then continue to prove he was also an ethical leader. Finally, I will finish by detailing how his seminal work has inspired me to self-reflect on how I can be a better visionary and ethical leader in the 21st Century Air Force. So, what exactly is a ‘visionary’ leader?
The Art of War is a treatise written in Ancient China that discusses the most and least effective military strategies for successful warfare according to Sun Tzu, a military general whose existence is still debated to this day. While not every military commander in the history of warfare has read it, the strategies provided can be used as a way to assess said commanders and the effectiveness of their campaigns. In Sun Tzu 's own words, “The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: let such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat:--let such a one be dismissed!”1 This paper will discuss various iconic battles throughout history and how closely the leading commanders of each army followed the advice of Sun Tzu. Despite the fact that Sun Tzu lived hundreds of years before many of these battles took place, the
China was without a doubt one of the most innovative countries by reason of their many advances made throughout the Shang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. Numerous accomplishments were archived by this empire. Their form of government was based on Dynasties, which are series of rulers from the same family. Different dynasties brought out different successes, such as the famous Great wall, which was a 13,170 miles fortress built around around 206 A.C. by millions of people. This structure was ordered to build by China’s first emperor, Qin, in the interest of protecting the Empire from invaders. Another extraordinary Chinese invention was paper. This universal utensil was created in the 2nd century B.C. by Cai Lun. The creating of this material
As one of the greatest founding novels of Taoism, Book of Chuang Tzu serves to strengthen Lao Tzu 's arguments in Tao Te Ching and lays the foundation for Taoism 's place in Chinese philosophy. Because Confucianism and Taoism are two competing philosophy schools that share more outstanding differences than similarities, the followers of both schools often refute and evaluate the ideals of the opposite school. However, the constant appearance of Confucius as the main character in more than twenty chapters in Book of Chuang Tzu not only surprises the readers, but also calls for deep analysis of the roles played Confucius in order to understand the true meaning of this ancient literature. While Chuang Tzu criticizes many of the Confucian ideas
In “To a Mouse”, Robert Burns views dreams as if they are fragile things that are broken easily.
The philosophies of ancient China had a major impact on their society. Three major philosophies of China all developed during the same period. These included Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. During this time, there were power struggles between warring kingdoms, and this resulted in political uncertainly. While all three philosophies had an impact on ancient China and presented different ways of life for society, Confucianism stands out above the rest. Confucianism had the greatest impact on the development of social order and political organization, and greatly impacted the way people lived in ancient China.
What personal qualities were a women in classical China supposed to exhibit? What were her prescribed responsibilities? To what extent were normative gender roles for women in classical India similar? To what extent they were different?
Lao Tzu believed that Tao is a natural thing. He believes that you come by it or you realize its presents and experience it. The best way for me to explain how Lao Tzu perceives the Tao is to take it directly from our reading in Molloy, “The Doa cannot be named because it has no form. But the Dao can be experienced and followed by every individual thing that has a name (213).” Lao Tzu used Tao as a way of being and living in harmony with nature. Lao Tzu believed that Tao came to you by using his teaching of Wu Wei, Simplicity, Gentleness and Relativity (217-218).
I was conscious …I did not know that I was Tzu. Suddenly I awoke… visibly Tzu. I do not know whether it was Tzu dreaming that he was a butterfly or the butterfly dreaming that he was Tzu”(___). To chuang Tzu he believes that we do not fully understand if we are awake or if we are asleep, because we are not truly awaken ______. He believes when we fall asleep our soul can connect with what is external to us and once we are awake our body is set free. “When they were dreaming they did not know it was a dream… they may even have tried to interpret it… they awoke they knew that it was a dream. And there is the great awaking, after which we shall know…Life was a great dream…. the stupid think they are awake”(___) This is an example of a philopshers way of thinking, if you believe that we are awake than you do not truly understand life because chuang Tzu claims that we are not sub conscious awake but In a state of which is a dream, and we will only we awaken by the
Dreams have long been a topic of intrigue for artists of all forms. In the literary sense, authors have explored the world of dreams in a plethora of manners, ranging from depicting nonsensical, imaginary worlds to crafting scenes that depict the inner workings of the subconscious mind. In both Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Artist of the Beautiful, the world of dreams is explored through the eyes and thoughts of two curious characters. While Carroll exposes the illogical, absurd elements present in dreams, Hawthorne focuses on the personal, meaningful aspects existing in subconscious thoughts.
coldest winter to pass us by; many of my friends and I went out to hit
1. What is the difference between a. and a. The founder of Buddhism was a man called Siddhartha Gautama, born to a wealthy family and destined for greatness; Siddhartha, however, left his family and the palace in search for religious truth and an end to suffering. Siddhartha tried many ways of reaching an enlightened stage; wandering the forest, joining the beggars, fasting, debating with religious leaders, but when none of these methods brought him a greater understanding of the world, Siddhartha sat himself down under a fig tree, and meditated. After forty-nine days of meditation Siddhartha was said to have achieved an understanding of the cause of suffering, he then became known as the Buddha, enlightened one.
The supposed author of the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu, is said to be the father of Taoism. It is estimated that Lao Tzu, spelled many other ways including Lao-tsu, Lao Tse, and Lao Tzi, was born under the name of Li Erh in Honan, China, around 604 B.C.E. Myth says that Lao Tzu was born fully developed with a long, white beard and hair the color of snow. He was somewhat of a recluse and withdrew from society to avoid governmental law and rule. He retreated to the Western frontier after the fall of the Zhou dynasty to continue his personal study of metaphysics and philosophy (Taoism 2). The collaborations of his studies and observations are said to be the basis of the Tao Te Ching, although some scholars argue that Lao Tzu’s existence cannot be proved and that the scholar Chuang-tzu played at least a partial role in the authorship. However the Tao Te Ching came to be, it is prized for being the foundation of Taoist belief and should hold merit as a universal guide, not as an author’s accomplishment (De Bary, Chan, and Watson 49).
For many centuries, Confucianism has been widely revered by the Chinese for its emphasis on morality. Confucius, who lived from 551 to 479 BCE, is different to most philosophers in that he showed no interest questioning his existence, the possibility of a God, or the reality that he seemed to live in; instead he focused on the human relations side of philosophy as it was his belief that people should “give (themselves) earnestly to the duties due to men … (and) keep aloof from (spiritual beings)” (Confucius 195). By negating the metaphysical side of philosophy, he was able to devote himself to mold his disciples into ideal gentleman who were morally righteous, and were able to benefit society. He believed in the importance of individuals who knew their roles in an well-structured society, that was a feudal system. In his opinion, the ideal gentleman should be obedient to his elders, have humanness and be morally righteous. Through his teachings, he was able to reform an entire country; the Chinese found Confucianism to embody practices of humaneness that they could apply in their daily lives through his religion.