Chinese Classics

The storyCounting Grain by Lamplight — A poor boy works all day and still finds time to learn.

The storyOne Word for a Whole Life — A student asks for one word to live by.

The storyStopped at the Gate — A gatekeeper asks an old man for one last gift.

The storyWaking Up Wondering — A man dreams he is a butterfly, then wakes up puzzled.

The storySweeping Before the New Year — A girl cleans the whole house, and her grandmother tells her why.

The storyOne Drop at a Time — A tiny drop of water falls on the same stone every day.

The storyWhat Do You Remember? — After their teacher dies, his students try to save his words.

The storyCounting Characters — A girl counts the characters in one short poem and makes a surprising guess.

The storyThe Bow She Forgot — A new student forgets to bow and wonders whether manners really matter.

The storyThree Houses — A mother moves house three times until her son copies the right neighbors.

The storyStop Fighting the Water — A swimmer stops fighting a strong current and floats safely to shore.

The storyThe Knife That Stayed Sharp — A cook's knife stays sharp for nineteen years, and a king asks him how.

The storyBrooms on the Hill — A family climbs a hill on a spring morning to care for the graves of people they love.

The storyWhy the Lion Bows — A boy in Chicago's Chinatown watches a lion dance stop at every shop door.

The storyThe Adviser on the Road — A teacher travels from court to court with his students, and no ruler will put his ideas to work.

The storyBooks in the Wall — A minister orders the old books burned, and a scholar hides his copy where no one will look.

The storyFour Hundred Thousand Characters — A boy in the year 1500 begins the long climb toward the imperial exam.

The storyTwo Teachers, One Child — Two Confucian teachers watch the same crying child and draw opposite lessons.

The storyBamboo in the Mud — In 1993, archaeologists in central China open a tomb and find the oldest known copy of the Daodejing.

The storySmoke and Chant — A class visits a Daoist temple during a festival and watches a priest lead a ceremony.

The storyThe Last Exam — In 1905 an imperial order ends an exam system that had shaped China for thirteen centuries.

The storyTwo Scholars at One Desk — In Hong Kong in the 1860s, a Scottish missionary and a Chinese scholar work together on the classics.

The storyStill Listening at Sixty — A student reads Analects 2.4 aloud, and her grandfather finds his own age in it.

The storyOne Word for a Whole Life — A disciple asks for a single word to live by, and the Master gives him one.

The storyWhich Part Holds the Water? — A potter holds up a bowl and asks her students a strange question.

The storyDon't Stir the Fish — A cook explains to a governor why a small fish falls apart if you stir it too much.

The storyThe Trembling Ox — A king sees an ox being led to sacrifice, and he cannot bear it.

The storyThe Happiness of Fish — Two friends on a bridge argue about whether anyone can know that fish are happy.

The storySeven Days Before the Bamboo — A young scholar stares at bamboo for seven days trying to find its principle, and falls ill.

The storyBeijing, May 4, 1919 — Students march in Beijing, and some of their movement turns against Confucius.

The storyTwo Quotations on a Board — Two sayings about repaying injury go up side by side, and the class splits.

The storyFive Rules on One Page — A student lines up five versions of the Golden Rule and notices one is in the negative.

The storySunrise, Slow Hands — A group practices tai chi in a Chicago park at sunrise, and a student asks what they are thinking about.

The storyFour Versions of One Line — A student lays out four translations of Daodejing chapter 1 and finds none of them agree.