My favorite excerpt from the Chuang Tzu reading was “D”, which I felt really tied in with our previous readings about man’s nature being good or evil. Yen Ho is designated to be the teacher for the crown prince and he says about the prince, “Here is this man who by nature is lacking in virtue.” Yen Ho is unsure how to approach the young man because of his position in society. He worries that if he doesn’t set the young prince on the right path, then the entire country will be at risk. At the same time, however, he fears that his life will be in danger if he tries to correct any of the prince’s ways. Relating it to Hsun Tzu’s teachings in Man’s Nature is Evil, we must be aware of our environment and who we surround ourselves with. Even if you are the teacher trying to help someone get on the right path or the path to righteousness, we must be aware of the student’s faults so that they do not become our own.
Flame by Ha Jin is a short story that I believe relates well to poem forty-six from the Daodejing. When Nimei is younger, she is in love with a man by the name of Hsu Peng. However, her mother forces Nimei to marry another man, Jiang Bing, because he has a stable job as an officer in the army and brings them food. Hsu Peng is enraged by this and swears that he will get his revenge someday. Sixteen years later, Nimei receives a letter from Hsu Peng that says he would like to get together and meet her family. Embarrassed of herself and her place in society, she begins to make changes in her life before meeting Hsu Peng. She starts running and working out with the goal of losing weight and getting in better shape. She also buys 500 bricks to pave her yard and places wild roses on both sides of the front gate for the day Hsu Peng comes. At work, Nimei goes out of her way to care for and impress Director Liao, one of her patients at the hospital. Rather than asking for money as payment, Nimei asks that Director Liao help get her husband promoted so that he will be more presentable to Hsu Peng. When the day finally arrives, Hsu Peng sends two people to tell Nimei that he is unable to make it. Nimei is devastated by this news and wonders if Hsu Peng ever intended on coming, or if this was his plan all along to finally get the revenge that he sought. The end of poem forty-six from the Daodejing reads, “There is no greater fault than desire for success. Therefore, knowing that enough is enough is always enough.” In Flame, Nimei did not realize that what she had in life was already enough. She had a husband that provided for her and their kids, but she couldn’t let go of her past. In the end, it was Nimei that got hurt because she desired more than what she already possessed.