2011 resolutions

New year resolution 2011 - to learn the ways of being a Chinese.

One advice received: "强迫你学一门中国国粹，你会学什么呢？

1京剧。Opera

2古典乐器。Classical musical instrument (like guzheng played by the bear?)

3中医 Chinese medicine

4中国水墨画 Chinese watercolour

5麻将。Mahjong

6书法。Calligraphy

7民族舞蹈。Folk dance

8古诗词 poem

9鉴赏古玩。Antiques

10中式烹饪。Chinese cuisine

11相声小品。Comics/sketching

12.中国风水学。Fengshui

13.围棋 Chinese chess

14工艺陶瓷 Ceramics

15变脸；Face changing art

16武术功夫 Chinese kungfu

17周易 I ching

18剪纸 Paper cutting

I wonder who can teach me what?

Through the looking glass

"The I Ching does not vaunt itself, nor is it easy to approach. Like a part of nature, it waits to be discovered. To one person, its spirit appears as clear as day; to another, shadowy as twilight; to a third, as dark as night." C.G. Jung on the I Ching -Book of Changes as translated by Richard Wilhelm (1950)

Through regular study of  the 64 hexagrams of I Ching, I have not only gain insights into how a Chinese mind works, but am amazed that 5,000 years after its first written, the words of wisdom in the book is ever fresh in applicability and practicality. It counsels one to be even-tempered and tread carefully, thoughtfully (#10), suggests another to take a step back to view the situation from a wider perspective (#33) and encourages a third to be brave and set forth to make his dreams come true (#46).

But one thing that comes to mind often, I am reminded of Professor Fred Dubee's words "We see things not as they are but as we are" and I wonder if I am reading the I Ching or I am reading my own thoughts mirrored by the I Ching.

Eat not at home

The I-Ching 易经 first made itself known to me some years ago, but no matter how hard I tried to read it for enlightenment, the words were spun so tightly together with references to dragons, forts, princes and sages that it might as well have been written in Aramaic*.


And recently, it once again re-surfaced in my life. Instead of reading it like a novel, this time I asked the book a question and the answer came back so stark and simple that the 5,000 years between us melted away. Gone were the convoluted references to flying dragons or heavenly mountains. At that point in life, I was dithering between an opportunity locally and one overseas. The I Ching simply stated "Not eating at home brings good fortune, it furthers one to cross the great water". I gaped in wonder at the clarity of advice, almost like an instruction barked out by a sergeant to a cadet. And a week later, I packed my bags to "try the food across those waters". 
So far so good. 


Besides the food on this side of the planet seemed to taste better than my homecooked instant noodles anyway!


* Aramaic - considered an endangered language. Cartoon:Hanging on the rack are roast goose, barbeque pork, roast pork, steam chicken, a typical Hong Kong "烧味  siu mei" fare. The cat (me) gives up eating fish (something familiar) to try the new (烧味). Nice.