Take Chen Caoan for an example. He was a Han that rose to the post of Deputy Prime Minister. Even a Deputy Prime Minister experienced the pain of discrimination, let alone common Han civilians and peasants. Chen Caoan expressed his misery using sarcasm and black humour, but the humour in the poem made the poet’s sadness become more apparent. Readers are likely to find the poem mildly amusing but feel terribly sad for the poet.

In sharp contrast with Tang Dynasty Poetry and Song Dynasty Lyric Verse, Yuan Dynasty Songs are full of life and their language is very animated. They also allow richer and more colourful expressions. Moreover, they are distinctly more beautiful when recited or sung because of their more perfected rhyming. When they first become acquainted with Yuan Dynasty Songs, readers who are used to reading Tang Dynasty Poetry and Song Dynasty Lyric Verse often find Yuan Dynasty Songs very refreshing.

All the bystanders said that Mr. Wei had always been a noble and respectable man and that the patient's son should not vilify such a moral man by accusing him of stealing money. But when the man came out of Mr. Wei's home with silver in his hand, everyone sighed in disappointment. They said, "It is known that a man's true character cannot be judged by his appearance, but who would have expected that Mr. Wei was such a person!" All the town folks began to condemn and defame Mr. Wei, but he seemed impervious to the harsh criticism.

Lin Tuizhai told them, "I don't have much to say. As long as you learn to be forbearing, that will be enough. Since ancient times, there have been lots of heroes who failed in many things only because they couldn't endure a loss! Since ancient times, there were also many heroes who have achieved many things only because they were able to endure the shame and suffering of loss! For example, Han Xin endured the shame of crawling under a thug's legs, but later he was able to become a great general and be conferred as Sanqi King by Liu Bang, while the youth in Huaiyin who insulted him earlier in life became his subordinate."

I travel east by water and west to Chang’an.
In pursuit of fame and a successful career as a government official, I have travelled all over China.
I am disgusted with travelling by boat and carriage. I long for the harp and books.
My sideburns have turned gray, but I am still unable to retire and spend the twilight of my life in melon paddies.
When my heart is content, I will be content with my fame.
In high places, there are hardships. In low places, there are hardships.

He told the guests not to start having their meal right away, saying, "Let's wait for Zhuo Shu for a while." The guests were all puzzled and said, "Huiji is one thousand miles away from here and there are rivers and lakes separating Huiji and Jianye. How can you be certain that he will be sure to come back at this time?" While the guests were saying this, Zhuo Shu arrived as scheduled. The guests were very surprised.

"A teacher is one who lectures on principles, teaches skills, and dispels confusion." This is the explanation given by Han Yu of the Tang Dynasty. One's life is given by his or her parents. How to live one's life and how to conduct oneself mostly depends on teachers. In Chinese, "teacher" (Shi) and "father" (Fu) are combined into the phrase "master" (Shi Fu). Since ancient times, there has been a saying that goes "He who teaches me for a day, is my father for life." That is to say, one should treat one's teacher with respect and humility.

This painting is based on a famous poem, which has been interpreted in famous works by Gai Qi and Fei Danxu of the Qing Dynasty about a male scholar playing Guzheng. Here, the artist shows a lady playing Guzheng, a novel interpretation within the realm bounded by the poem. This gives the painting a fresh and unique sensibility. To break away from convention with creativity requires courage, especially in the world of Chinese traditional painting.

He learnt from the Bible that one should be thankful for everything and be tolerant at all times, that one should offer one’s right side of the face when someone hits the left side, and that one should not hate people who bully him and should be thankful to them. He knew their superficial meanings, but he found it impossible to follow these doctrines. After he started practising Falun Gong, he realised that there was no such a thing as a coincidence and that the law of cause and effect applies to everyone and everything.

The Taizong Emperor said to Feng Deyi, "Whether the running water is clean or filthy is determined by the source of the water. The ruler is the source of the government and people are like the water. If the ruler is deceptive while asking his subjects to be fair and upright, it is like expecting the water to be clean while the source is filthy. This does not make sense. I often think that the Weiwu Emperor is a deceitful man and I deeply despise the way he conducts himself. How could he set a good example with that kind of behaviour?"

The locals only had donkeys. The load was a little too light for a donkey if it only carried one Arhat statue at a time. However, a donkey isn’t strong enough to carry two. Even if the donkey carried two each time, how long would it take to haul five hundred of them? This worried the old monk a lot. He stared at those immobile Arhats, and spoke out to himself, “If you all could walk by yourselves, how great that would be!” Just as he finished his words, a miracle appeared, and those five hundred Arhats really started to walk by themselves.

The poet and nature are in one. What a wonderful realm! In another of his poems, Han Shan wrote, “Tigers and deer are my neighbours.” It means that tigers and deer often visit him at his lodge on the mountain. There are many records of lofty monks in Chinese history who were able to live peacefully with wild beasts and, in some cases, wild beasts would even perform services for them. That is but a natural outcome when a person restores his mind to its natural state and when he connects with the world’s creatures through his kindness.

However Bianji knew that Zhuangzi was coming to visit him and he felt quite uneasy. He thought, "Zhuangzi is much more knowledgeable than me and he is probably going to try and take over my country. Is he coming to fight for the position of Prime Minister?" Out of fear, Bianji ordered that Zhuangzi be arrested upon his arrival. Zhuangzi was very surprised when this actually happened but he managed to escape. When he saw Bianji, he looked him straight in the eye and walked towards him.

Traversing widest oceans
where countless vessels find sail.
With the turning of tides
darkest storms subside.
And the light of compassion prevails.

Afterwards, the emperor ordered a sudden inspection at his house during the mealtime and had his food brought back to the imperial palace. The emperor looked at the confiscated dishes to find that they were indeed ordinary vegetable dishes and coarse brown rice as Zhang Mi had described. The emperor admired him very much for his simple life style, so he gave Zhang Mi a nickname: Zhang Caigeng (張菜羹). Caigeng means vegetable dishes in Chinese.

In just ten simple Chinese characters, Wang Zhihuan portrayed a powerful painting with both still and moving themes and a magnificent view. In just ten simple Chinese characters, he brought the readers to the scenery without actually being there and made the readers open up their heart to the grand, magnificent view. Wang Zhihuan used ten very ordinary characters, but he drew a philosophical law that everyone can relate to:

“You can enjoy a grander sight
By climbing to a greater height.”

Valleys to mountains
horizons and beyond
The Fa calling hearts
to highest realms.

The elderly man stopped him again and called out to him, “Hey! The Benevolent Mr. Wang! What is the matter with you? I thought you were a kindhearted man. We are predestined to travel together. How can you abandon your travelling partner and take off without even saying goodbye? Fortunately I got up early and caught up with you in time. Come. Come. Let me have a ride on your donkey!” The Benevolent Mr. Wang could not bring himself to refuse the elderly man, so he had no choice but to move half of the ash from the donkey again and carry it on his back so that the elderly man may have his ride.

In the eyes of Lao Zi, a perfect emperor should be "quiet and inactive," he should obey the Tao, and he should follow the people, that is all. To the people, "what is the importance of an emperor's power to me?" To an emperor, "if I do nothing, the people will civilise themselves; if I like quietness, the people will be righteous by themselves. If I do not interrupt, the people will become rich by themselves, if I have no desire, the people will become simple by themselves." (Chapter 57) This is the perfect state of governing a country that the Taoist scriptures clarified.

How long must
the innocent suffer.
How many lies can
China’s people be told?

With the ‘Party’ and
its spectre presiding.
How many lives have been
ruined and hearts made cold?

After I read the editorials by The Epoch Times about the crimes of the CCP - Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party - I wrote the text to this song to give support the Chinese people. It's the first time that the history and the crimes of the party have been so comprehensively and systematically revealed. - Download We Want Freedom For the People for free by clicking here.

Horizons unfolding to widest heavens
worlds where no hearts collide.
Moments to aeon's come interwoven
when tides find calm and storms subside.

It is such an image-filled poem. In just twenty characters, Liu Zongyuan created a complete, ethereal landscape and a chilly, indescribable solitude. It was though the entire world is filled with snow and the entire universe is silent and clean. The chill is awe-inspiring. The image of an elderly man in a rain cloak sitting alone in the snow fishing suggests the author’s lofty character and his chilly solitude. It also suggests that the author is impervious to the external environment. Throughout the ages, readers have sympathised, admired and respected Liu Zongyuan for his superior character and will.

In this painting I wanted to convey the scene of a Falun Gong practitioner in a forced labour camp in China, because in western society many people who shop regularly may find that everything is made in China these days. Who are those people that make those products and what kind of treatment do they receive?

Another piece of art is “Faith Unchained.” My deepest memory is about my prison days in China. While painting, I often recalled some heart-stirring stories from the days when I was in China, some details, some dialogues, the difficulties encountered... ... There were both tears and joy during painting. Painting took me back to a kind of memory world and I was painting my own heart, expressing my own sentiments.

Though astronomers generally believe most galaxies were built up by mergers of smaller galaxies, the new discovery suggests that at least a few galaxies formed quickly and wholly long ago. For such a large galaxy, this would have been a vastly explosive star birth event.

After Liu grew up, he successfully passed the Civil Service Examination (Translator’s note: passing the Civil Service Examination in ancient China would enable one to become a government official, and so it was highly regarded and considered a high achievement). His fiancée, however, had contracted a severe eye disease and turned blind. Liu’s neighbour was rather poor and because their daughter had turned blind, they felt she was unworthy of marrying Liu. So they didn’t dare to bring up the subject of the earlier engagement.

The military official asked Wang Anshi to have everyone else removed from the scene because he had to report a private issue to him. After everyone else left, he told Wang Anshi, “Last night I had a dream where it seemed I had entered Hell and I saw your son in shackles suffering in Hell. He asked me to tell you something that might be good for you. I was worried that you might not believe in my dream when your son told me, ‘My father will believe you as long as you tell him that I am being tortured in Hell because of a matter we had discussed at a certain time on a certain day.’”