During the middle of the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644), there were four men regarded as the top four talented scholars in the region of Jiangnan, the area where Liangzhu Culture developed 5,300 – 4,000 years ago.
One of the four was in Hangzhou, the other three from Suzhou, all were great poets, painters and calligraphers.
This calligraphy is the first page of a Daoist classic titled Supreme Lord on Simplicity hand-copied by the Suzhou talent Wen Zhengming.
The opening sentence reads:
The Great Dao (Tao, the fundamental principle) is formless and gives birth to all things in the universe. The Great Dao is emotionless and motions all things in the universe. The Great Dao is nameless and nurtures all things on Earth.
If you can keep simple in life and in your heart, you will eventually be the lord of your world.
COMMENTS FROM GOOGLE PLUS
Aquil A Rahman
I’ve not seen but one post about the Game GO, a computer program was finally developed to win. Perhaps this summer, I will learn.
Oh yes, the subject is not related to the post. BUT when I saw the words LORD of SIMPLICITY, I thought about it.
All Things Chinese
😀 Game Go is by essence a Daoist game, white and black, yin and yang, the fundamental dual forces, ultra-simple, while all events are derived from them.
Laura Fibbi
Per questa calligrafia serve la mano di un pittore e la sensibilità di un poeta….bellissima
Translate
All Things Chinese
In Chinese tradition, a good ink painting without good calligraphy may not be considered a good artwork : )
Calligraphy is the ultimate abstract painting.
KaiChen YEH
看起來是仿佛經的道教經典
All Things Chinese
Dao and Buddhism are similar by essence, which is why Buddhism can become part of Chinese culture.
KaiChen YEH
道家思想與道教是相當不同的 就本質上道教與佛教也截然不同 然而儒家思想 佛家思想 道家思想 以及中國本土宗教道教 卻又彼此交融影響 而不像摩尼教 拜火教那樣的消失於中國歷史洪流中
All Things Chinese
At the entrance level, yes, Buddhism and Taoism appear to be quite different, but they converge at the top. There are thousands of paths to enlightenment.
KaiChen YEH
你是說殊途同歸嗎? 我反倒覺得在基礎上是類似的 都有對靜定的修行 以及行善累功的觀念 但是佛教終極目標的涅槃 與道教的成仙 卻是完全不同的
All Things Chinese
Becoming immortal is a significant milestone in Dao cultivation but not its ultimate goal.
The path of Dao cultivation is a process of reversal: from raw flesh to refined essence, from refined essence to intangible qi, from intangible qi to taichi core, from taichi core to wuchi, and the state of wuchi is the same as the pure consciousness in Buddhism.
Immortal existence is just somewhere between refined essence and qi.
KaiChen YEH
這確實與涅槃的觀念有落差呢
All Things Chinese
No real difference. Nirvana is the total extinction of the illusive world to reveal the true existence which is the formless and timeless consciousness — that is equivalent to a stage from taichi to wuchi.
Nirvana is not the final stage but a process to reach the ultimate state. If you cling to nirvana, you’ll never reach total liberation.
In fact, most Buddhist schools also go through immortal stages, such as Pureland in the west and Tusita Palace in the Sixth Heaven.
What truly unique is China’s Zen school, which is the most straightforward and simple, seeking a shortcut from a full-fledged human existence to the pure state of consciousness bypassing all stages in between.
Few people can achieve that. Sakyamuni is one of them.