Hsiang Hsiu

Hsiang Hsiu (c. 221 – c. 300), anglicized name Xiang Xiu, was a Chinese philosopher and a government official. Some sources mention his earlier death between c. 272 and c. 280. He was a staunch Confucianist who attempted to incorporate Taoism into Confucianism. He wrote commentaries on the Chuang-tzu, and was founder of the School of the Names, which is also known as the School of Logicians, or Dialecticians. He emphasized on changeability and relativity of reality itself. He is the most famous as one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. Xiang Xiu was a close friend of the famous musician-philosopher Ji Kang (Xi Kang) who was executed under emperor Sima Zhao. He then faced with two choices - to be executed or to adapt. He then carefully re-interpreted his previous antagonistic words to the emperor in a new light, and avoided the charge of treason.

Wisdom & Quotes

• What is a long life without joy, compared with a short but joyful one?

- Nan Yang-sheng lun ( Criticisms of the Text concerting the Cuntlivation of Life), Ch'uan Shang-ku San-tai Ch'in Han San-kuo Liu-chao wen

• Everything is produced of itself and not by anything else.
• He who is content with his lot is always at ease; he who strives for what is not his share is always in danger.
• The sun and moon do not stay; the seasons follow one another in haste.
• Things are complete in themselves; why should one add to them?
• Life is a temporary gathering; death is a natural dispersal.
• I mourn him, yet I do not cling to sorrow.

– after execution of Ji Kang

• Fame binds more tightly than chains.
• To follow one’s nature is freedom; to follow rules is burden.
• Excessive knowing obscures what is plainly so.
• Those who govern by force disturb the harmony of Heaven and Earth.
• When the mind rests in what is so, even chaos becomes orderly.

– attributed

Ko Hung