The Yellow River: The Central World of Ancient Chinese China is located on an immense and steep continental slope, unlike any other in the world. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, located in the western part of China, is the highest and geological...

The Su Wen comprises half of the Neijing , which is the seminal work of traditional Chinese medicine. In modern Chinese, the meaning of the word s u ( 素 ) is simple or plain, and wen ( 问 ) means question, so the book Su Wen is generally...

Scholars of the highest class, When they hear about the Dao, earnestly carry it into practice; Scholars of the middle class, When they have heard about it, seem now to keep it and now to lose it; Scholars of the lowest class, when they have...

A story by Zhuangzi: A hunchback catching cicadas When Zhongni was on his way to Chu, as he issued from a forest, he saw a hunchback catching cicadas (on the point of a rod), as if he were picking them up with his hand. 'You are clever!' sa...

The cook cutting up an ox! 庖丁解牛 A story from Chapter 3 of the Zhuangzi (The Secret of Caring for Life) A cook was cutting up an ox for Lord Wen-hui. At every touch of his hand, every heave of his shoulder, every move of his feet, ev...

Unity of Human and Heaven: The Fundamental worldview of ancient Chinese Ancient Chinese believe that Humanity, Society, and Nature form a unified whole, each part similarly constituted and governed by the same laws. This principle, traditio...

Dujiang Canal: a successful example of the use of dredging and water diversion for flood control The Dujiang Canal ( Dujiangyan ) is located in Sichuan Province on the middle reaches of the Minjiang River, a tributary of the Changjiang (Yan...

Map of Yus Traces ( Yuji Tu): The Worlds Earliest Cartograph of Watercourses The most valuable principle the ancient Chinese learned from their work with flood control was that dredging or diverting water to flow naturally downward is super...

Dredging rather than Diking: The Unique Mastery of Flood Control Attained from the Yellow River by ancient Chinese Attracted by the fertile lands of the Yellow River's middle and lower reaches, the prehistoric ancestors of the Chinese peopl...

Chinas Sorrow: The Harmful Aspect of the Yellow River China's two longest rivers, the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, originate in the heights of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. They have been essential to agricultural development and popula...