Storyteller: Last month, I told a story “Satisfying Hunger with Picture Cakes“. It tells people not to rely on unrealistic fantasy. Today, I will tell a similar story: “Quenching thirst by watching plums”.  The idea within this Chinese idiom is pretty close the “picture cake” one.  Sometimes, people use these two idioms together, and in most cases, one can replace the other in a dialogue or context. However, given the stories behind the two idioms, there is a little difference between the exact meaning of two idioms. “Drawing a picture …

“Top 10 Chinese Classical Music – part I” continues
6. Flute & Drum Music at Dusk (夕阳萧鼓)

One of my favorites. It is one of the most popular Pipa pieces. In 1925,Shanghai Datong Music Society composed the famous “Blossoms on a Spring Moonlit Night ( 春江花月夜 )” based on this ancient Pipa solo.

Storyteller: Today I will tell a story about a world-wide popular idiom. According to wikipedia, there are at least 29 different versions of this idiom in different languages. The English version is: “Pot calling the kettle black”.
50 steps laughing at 100 steps
During the Warring States Period of China, there was a king in the state of Liang. He liked to drive his people into war fighting with neighboring states. One day, he met Mencius, and asked: “As a king, I think I govern the state fairly well.  If there is …

Introduction:

Honestly, Chinese classical music is not as good as western music. Its theoretical basis was too poor comparing to western music.  A famous Chinese philosopher Feng, You-Lan said: Anybody who knows both eastern and western music would prefer western music; however, anybody who knows both eastern and western philosophy would prefer eastern philosophy.  So, from this point of view, to know Chinese classical music is a very good way to understand Chinese philosophy, since Chinese music is influenced by the eastern philosophy and integrated into life style of Chinese culture.
Here …

Storyteller: Look at the pie picture on the right. Isn’t it delicious? At the moment of looking at it, probably you start to secret saliva and your stomach starts to rumble. But stop! You remind yourself: “It’s just a picture. Don’t feed on illusions”. In english, we use this phrase “to feed on illusions” to describe unrealistic fantasy. In Chinese, there is a idiom and a story for the same idea.
Satisfying Hunger with Picture Cakes
During the period of Three Kingdoms (208-280 A.D.), there was a man named Lu, Yu in …