Chung-ch'ang T'ung

Chung-ch'ang T'ung (c 179-219) was Chinese Confucian philosopher and government official, author of the Chang Yang, a critical study of the political situation during the late Han dynasty, along with proposed changes to make a better society. Chung-ch'ang T'ung was a Taoist poet of untrammelled vision.

Wisdom & Quotes

• Torturing, fatiguing, boring thoughts have been labouriously turned this way and that since time immemorial.

What is the point of such thoughts?
The highest value lies only in the self.

• The Great Way is simple

Yet few know its origin
Follow your desires without recrimination
Adapt to things without praising them.
- Ch'uan Han San-kuo Chin Nan-pei-ch'ao shih

• The primordial breath is my skiff,

The gentle breeze my rudder,
I float in greatest purity
And take my delight in the entire cosmos.
- Ch'uan Han San-kuo Chin Nan-pei-ch'ao shih

• All that is worldly can be transcended: one can reflect on all things between heaven and earth from a higher vantage point. The demands of the present are neglected, life becomes eternal. Coming to heaven, one enters a sphere beyond space and time. Why then should one aspire to being received by king and emperors?

- Lo-chih-luh ( Desire for Joy)

Ts'ao Chih