Contextualize
Water has always been using a lot in the ancient Chinese thinkers’ philosophy; everything is called wanwu (万物) in Chinese is derived from water. However, according to the different philosophers in ancient China, there are always the various meaning of water. In the reading, Confucius said, “What passes is perhaps like this: day and night it never lets up.” (1997, Allan 11). It expresses the thoughts of how time changes frequently, even it did not mention water in the saying, but it is metaphors that time is just like water; when it flows past, it will not come back. When I finished the reading, it reminds me of a saying in Analects, “The Master said, ‘The wise find pleasure in water; the virtuous find pleasure in hills. The wise are active; the virtuous are tranquil. The wise are joyful; the virtuous are long-lived.” Back in high school, when I learned this, my Chinese teacher explained this saying to us that wise and virtuous are both excellent characters that gentleman should have. However, different in different periods, a gentleman is looking for different characters. When they are young, they are more active like water, and when the gentleman gets older, they are more mature like hills. Now think back to the saying “What passes is perhaps like this: day and night it never lets up.”, I have different thoughts, time will pass by and will not come back, but the process of the time is different; it is changing by the time.
C., & Lau, D. C. (1998). The Analects (Penguin Classics) (1st ed.). Penguin Classics.