Readings

Follow a question, a word, or your curiosity. Begin anywhere.

Was I dreaming, or was the butterfly? 物化
Was losing the horse really bad luck? 塞翁失马
What can a frog in a well know about the sea? 井底之蛙
Three plus four, or four plus three? 朝三暮四
How can knowing enough make you rich? 知足
Learning to walk, forgetting your feet 邯郸学步
Does your snake really need feet? 画蛇添足
A mark on a moving boat 刻舟求剑
The farmer who hurried his seedlings 揠苗助长
How well do we know ourselves? 自知
Who can be your teacher? 三人行
How can one word mean home and family? 家
The pleasure of learning something well 学而时习之
Is caring only about providing? 孝
How can a small gesture show respect? 礼
What does it mean to give someone face? 面子
What makes someone worthy of respect? 君子
Can a way be put into words? 道
Where do “I” end and things begin? 万物
Can your own hopes help you understand others? 仁
When does doing less help more? 无为
Does Dao follow nature? 自然
Is the middle always the right place? 中庸
Light and shade on the same hill 阴阳
When does knowing become real? 知行合一
Why compare goodness to water? 上善若水
Considering the other person 恕
Can you get along without agreeing? 和而不同
Finding something new in an old lesson 温故知新
Why know yourself as well as your rival? 知己知彼
Is the best victory one without a battle? 不战而屈人之兵
Why does the Art of War praise deception? 出其不意
What happened when the palace ladies laughed? 三令五申
Cook Ding and the knife that stayed sharp 庖丁解牛
Yuanfen: when meeting someone feels special 缘分
The choices only you can see 慎独
Waiting for another hare 守株待兔
Could the spear pierce the shield? 自相矛盾
Fifty steps laughing at a hundred 五十步笑百步
A cup of water for a burning cartload 杯水车薪
Why did copying the frown go wrong? 东施效颦
Who is watching the hunter? 螳螂捕蝉
Why learning needs thought 学而不思
What does it mean to know? 知之为知之
Where does a thousand-mile journey begin? 千里之行
Why does the Daodejing put softness on the side of life? 柔弱
How did Confucius get people to talk? 温良恭俭让
Why say an exemplary person is not a utensil? 君子不器
What does trust have to do with a cart? 人而无信，不知其可也
How can a parent's birthday bring two feelings? 父母之年
When is a hint most useful? 不愤不启
Why can rushing keep a task from getting done? 欲速则不达
Why can winning favour feel unsettling? 受宠若惊
Do fine words deserve trust? 信言不美
Why watch what people do, not only what they say? 听其言而观其行
Why be slow with words and quick with deeds? 讷于言而敏于行
What does “standing at thirty” mean? 三十而立
What passes like a river? 逝者如斯夫
What should a good example make you want? 见贤思齐
Can doing more still miss the mark? 过犹不及
What did Zengzi check each day? 吾日三省吾身
Why is a great vessel finished late? 大器晚成
How can good fortune contain trouble? 祸兮福之所倚
Why compare governing to cooking a small fish? 治大国若烹小鲜
Whose power makes the animals run? 狐假虎威
Who wins when neither side lets go? 鹬蚌相争
Can a repair still help after the sheep is lost? 亡羊补牢
What if better horses take you the wrong way? 南辕北辙
How can an empty bow bring down a bird? 惊弓之鸟
Why does a clever rabbit need three burrows? 狡兔三窟
What did Nüwa repair besides the sky? 女娲补天
Why does the sky lean in Gonggong's story? 共工怒触不周山
What can a single fallen leaf tell you? 一叶知秋
How did Chang'e reach the moon? 嫦娥奔月
How did the jade get back to Zhao? 完璧归赵
Why bring thorns to an apology? 负荆请罪
What happens when a minister calls a deer a horse? 指鹿为马
Why break the cooking pots before a battle? 破釜沉舟
Why were the songs outside the camp so frightening? 四面楚歌
How much was Ji Bu’s promise worth? 一诺千金
Who volunteers for the twentieth place? 毛遂自荐
What does an awl in a bag have to do with talent? 脱颖而出
Why does a path form beneath a silent tree? 桃李不言，下自成蹊
Hiding among three hundred musicians 滥竽充数
Buying the box and returning the pearl 买椟还珠
Why would a shoe buyer ignore his own feet? 郑人买履
The promise that cost a pig 曾子杀彘
The ruler who would not hear the diagnosis 讳疾忌医
Letting an old horse find the road 老马识途
Water too far away to put out the fire 远水不救近火
Learning has five kinds of work 博学之，审问之，慎思之，明辨之，笃行之
If others need one try, take a hundred 人一能之，己百之
The Way is not far from people 道不远人
Who hears what the musician means? 高山流水
Why cover your ears to steal a bell? 掩耳盗铃
Why doesn't flowing water go stale? 流水不腐
What will be left to catch next year? 竭泽而渔
What does it mean to keep strengthening yourself? 自强不息
What can good character carry? 厚德载物
What changes when an old way reaches its limit? 穷则变，变则通
What does “like gathers with like” suggest? 物以类聚
Why does a just cause find help? 得道多助，失道寡助
What would you choose over life? 舍生取义
How does care reach beyond your family? 老吾老，以及人之老
Why can ease become dangerous? 生于忧患，死于安乐
What can wealth fail to corrupt? 富贵不能淫
Why look for fish in a tree? 缘木求鱼
Can one sunny day make up for ten cold ones? 一曝十寒
Why do two students learn different amounts? 专心致志
How can a wide net let nobody escape? 天网恢恢，疏而不漏
Why is the greatest sound scarcely heard? 大音希声
What does winter reveal about the pines? 岁寒，然后知松柏之后凋
Why might the younger generation surprise you? 后生可畏
What could make a single morning enough? 朝闻道，夕死可矣
How did a giant bird become a wish for your future? 鹏程万里
Why are the fish sharing their last moisture? 相濡以沫
What made the river god sigh? 望洋兴叹
How do you know the fish are happy? 子非鱼，安知鱼之乐
Why did the trained rooster look like wood? 呆若木鸡
What use could there be in being useless? 无用之用
Swift as wind, steady as a forest 其疾如风，其徐如林
Survival with no way back 置之死地而后生
Practise where things happen 事上磨练
What does it mean to extend moral knowing? 致良知
The heart is principle 心即理
How could an old man move two mountains? 愚公移山
What if the sky falls? 杞人忧天
Why could Confucius not settle the argument? 两小儿辩日
How can a pupil surpass a teacher? 青出于蓝
What does it take to carve metal and stone? 锲而不舍
How can small additions become a mountain? 积土成山
How do you return a kindness? 投桃报李
Why look to another mountain? 他山之石，可以攻玉
Who is the woman in the opening song? 窈窕淑女
Why does jade need working? 玉不琢，不成器
What can teaching show a teacher? 教学相长
What does it mean to investigate things? 格物致知
Why does governing begin with your own conduct? 修身齐家治国平天下
Whose needs count as much as your own? 兼爱
Why praise an invasion but punish a theft? 非攻
When your mind is somewhere else 心不在焉
How did Mozi stop a siege? 墨守成规
Courtesy goes both ways 礼尚往来
Why stay where a tiger kills? 苛政猛于虎
Eyes that spot a fake 火眼金睛
The spell that keeps Monkey in line 紧箍咒
Turning the accusation back on you 倒打一耙
Monkey makes havoc in Heaven 大闹天宫
Three visits to the cottage 三顾茅庐
Everything ready except the east wind 万事俱备，只欠东风
Why did Heaven also make Liang? 既生瑜，何生亮
Losing the bride and the troops 赔了夫人又折兵
Driven to Liangshan 逼上梁山
Friends after a fight 不打不相识
Help that arrives just in time 及时雨
Acting on Heaven's behalf 替天行道
Granny Liu visits the garden 刘姥姥进大观园
When the false passes for true 假作真时真亦假
The wisdom Baoyu wants to escape 世事洞明皆学问，人情练达即文章
Too clever by half 机关算尽太聪明
Why wait for a tired opponent? 以逸待劳
What can be made new every day? 苟日新，日日新，又日新
Is keeping your word always enough? 言必信，行必果
Who is all under heaven for? 天下为公
Why refuse food when you are starving? 嗟来之食
Why let the bow go slack? 一张一弛
What do you miss when you study alone? 孤陋寡闻
How do half-steps carry you a thousand li? 不积跬步，无以至千里
Why would the fish forget each other? 相忘于江湖