YeYoung Neidan and Tai Chi

Painting by Xiang YeYoung

Master Huizhong (? -775)

Huizhong was titled as Nanyang Master of the State. From Zhejiang province, his family name was Ran. He studied with the Sixth Zen Patriarch Huineng (743-843). His monastery was located in Baiya Mountain, Henan province. He was given the Great Awakened Master title by the Tang emperors Xiaozong and Taizong.

Awakening and Confusion

Zen Master Huizhong asked the imperial official: “What does Buddha mean?” The official answered: “Buddha means awakening.” Huizhong said: “Was Buddha ever confused?” The official replied: “He wasn’t.” Huizhong said: “If Buddha wasn’t ever confused, why does he need to be awakened?”

Translation by Xiang YeYoung and Siyi Evon

Painting by Xiang YeYoung

The Struggle Between the Egret and the Oyster

(Yu Bang Xiang Zheng)

When the oyster opened up the egret quickly placed his beak inside. The oyster closed its shell capturing the egret’s beak. The egret says to the oyster “its not going to rain today or tomorrow so you will be dead.”  The oyster says, “I will not let you go today or tomorrow and you will be dead.” Both the egret and the oyster fail to compromise, and a fisherman ends up catching them both.

Translation by Xiang YeYoung and Siyi Evon

Painting by Xiang YeYoung

The Tiger and the Fox

(Hu Jia Hu Wei)

One day a tiger caught a fox with the intention of eating him. The Fox said, “No one would dare eat me. I’m at the top of the food chain. Everyone bows to me. If you don’t believe me let us walk into a crowd and see how they respond.” The tiger agreed and followed the fox into a crowd. Of course, seeing the Tiger everyone ran away, but the Tiger thinks the Fox was right and decides not to eat him.

Translation by Xiang YeYoung and Siyi Evon

Painting by Xiang YeYoung

Cover Your Ears So No One Will Hear

(Yan Er Dao Zhong)

A man was walking by an abandoned house when he came upon a wonderful large bronze bell that he decided to steal. He knew he would have to take the bell in pieces in order to move it because it was so heavy. This was going to be too noisy a job to do without getting caught, so he thought he should use earplugs. The thief covered his ears thinking that if he could not hear the bell, no one else could either.

From Lu’s Annuals (475-221 BC)

Translation by Xiang YeYoung and Siyi Evon

Painting by Xiang YeYoung

The Dragon Lover

(Ye Gong Hao Long)

There was a man who loved dragons so much that he drew them all over his house. He had dragons drawn on his walls, curtains, and carved onto the columns in his house. One day a dragon heard about this man and decided to visit him to let him see a real dragon. The dragon finds the man’s house and sticks his head into the man’s living room. The man is so terrified he darts out of the house. The dragon lover does not really love dragons, but rather he loves the idea of dragons.

Translation by Xiang YeYoung and Siyi Evon

Painting by Xiang YeYoung

Waiting for Rabbits

(Shou Zhu Dai Tu)

One day while a farmer was working in the field he suddenly saw a rabbit run too fast into a nearby tree and it broke its neck and died. The farmer thought himself incredibly lucky and decided to put down his tools and wait by the tree for more suicidal rabbits. The farmer didn’t get any more rabbits, but he did become the joke of the town.

Translation by Xiang YeYoung and Siyi Evon

Painting by Xiang YeYoung

Drawing feet on a snake

(Hua She Tian Zu)

After offering their ancestors wine, a group of people were deciding who would get the honor of drinking the wine. It was too much wine for one person, but not enough for the group. A contest was suggested; whomever finished drawing a snake first would get to drink the wine. One of them finished his snake first and took the wine in his hand, thinking he had finished so quickly he had time to embellish his snake with feet. While he was drawing feet with one hand and holding the wine with the other, another man finished his snake and declared himself winner, and took the wine and drank it.

Translation by Xiang YeYoung and Siyi Evon