Zhuangzi : The Autumn Floods

The writer Shaun Tan seems to be criticising the events in the film between the boy, the lost thing and the society. He expresses the sadness and loneliness the lost thing feels because no one helps it or notices its existence in the film. The author is trying to display that many people are often very involved in their lives and often do not notice

‘The way’ is cluttered with constant imagery of contradictory views which are both compelling and insightful, through which we are taken on a journey, our final destination being the true meaning of life. In a world where we are all yearning for the meaning for life, true harmony and real balance it is no surprise that the Tao Te Ching is a very haunting piece of literature that holds the reader in an almost trans like state of mind as it attempts to portray the way to accomplish the above.

Lastly, the conch represented civilization and initially helped bring peace among the boys. The conch as well brought order to the island. In both the novel and the movie the boys had started off with both order and civilization but ended off losing all sense of society. When the conch had shattered in the book it had showed had civilization was completely destroyed but, when it did not break in the movie it did not represent anything of order or civilization, it looked like a shell that was just there. It did not have the same symbolic representation like it did in the book.

Furthermore, the two essays also connect with one another because, in Nguyen’s paper, the lion represents much more than just a stuffed animal, it represents a chance for the little girl to be recognized as part of the “normal people” in the classroom. In Tan’s the mother reads the entire essay

Throughout history western and eastern philosophies have developed a vast segregation from one another. The geographical and cultural distance between eastern and western civilization determined massive differences between the two. On the other hand, the works of ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates, and some eastern philosophies like Taoism have many of the same or common ideas and concepts. Both eastern and western philosophies regardless of having similarities have distinctive differences when examining the view of the conception of the good. In this rgard, each philosophy is noticed to have beliefs that strive for followers to improve their lives and to be on a path of self-purification. This essay will primarily focus on

    Earlier this week we focused on ancient eastern China during the Han Dynasty and the east asian philosophies that arose during this time period. We reviewed three great asian philosophers, Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Buddha. In class we also picked from a list of quotes from these three philosophers a quote they said that really resonated with us and wrote a descriptive essay on it and shared it in class for extra credit.

One more theme in the novel is religion. “Rays of sunlight streamed from between the clouds, like the Holy Ghost…” (162). The Holy Ghost is meant to signify God. The plant theme is also involved because sunlight is a key factor in the growth of plants. This means that God/ spirituality is a key ingredient in the growth of both Turtle and

Marc Rosenbush’s film, Zen Noir (2004), is at first glance a film thoroughly ensconced in the themes of Zen Buddhism. Set in a dark and brooding film noir atmosphere, the film depicts the story of a deeply troubled detective, at the end of his rope, who finds himself at a Zen monastery in order to solve a murder. But once there, he realizes that things are not quite what they seem to be. As the film unfolds, we find that the world Rosenbush has created for us is wildly symbolic, and it becomes clear that the monastery is a symbol of the detective’s psyche and that he was not investigating a murder, but his own fear of death and loss. If this introspective, psychological element of the film is recognized, the Buddhist themes of the film become conflated with allegories of navigating the Western psyche. It is the contention of this paper that when the psychological themes of this film are investigated, we will find that the alleged Buddhist theme of enlightenment in the film must compete with a symbolic depiction of Jungian individuation.

Confucius (551–479 B.C.E.) and Laozi are some of the most renowned Chinese philosophers of all times. Laozi is considered by many scholars as a contemporary of Confucius. Indeed, the philosophies of the two scholars share a lot in common one of them being that they are critical of the world they live in because of disorder, which they attribute to deviation from the “way” of the golden period. Also, both their philosophies see the state of “nonaction” as the perfect spiritual state of man as characterized by harmony between his inclinations and those of the “way”. However, despite these similarities, Confucius and Laozi significantly differ in the sense that while the former advocates for

A flood can be defined in many depths but is simply water where it isn’t wanted. In late 2010 Queensland was affected by major flash flooding this continued on into the beginning of 2011 and ¾ of Queensland was declared a disaster zone.

One of the oldest philosophies in Chinese history is Confucianism. At the time of the warring states, Confucius wandered throughout China seeking a ruler who accepted the Confucian way. Since then, his ideas grew and are still relevant today. Throughout time other philosophers, Mengzi and Xunzi, have interpreted Confucius’ teachings and have long debated whether human nature is good or bad. I argue that human nature is not, as Mengzi believes, inherently good, instead, completely self-interested.

“The Year of the Flood” is an epic, sprawling novel that moves back and forth between past, present and future effortlessly. Though it is told from Ren and Toby’s point of view, the novel is really about the story of three women (Ren, Toby, and Amanda) and their will to survive in a cruel and harsh world. It is a story of hope, despite all odds and a story of the power of love.

People always wonder what makes them who they are. However, the extent to which our characters are derived from ourselves is always an argument for many philosophers. Marx, a German philosopher, and Mengzi, a representative thinker of Confucianism, present similar accounts in explaining how humans are shaped. Both Marx and Mengzi believe that our individual character is not solely shaped by ourselves but are shaped in ways by external forces. However, I will argue that, compared with Mengzi’s view of the moral attributes that inherently exist in humans themselves, Marx’s account is more systematic and compelling due to his emphasis of the effect of the interrelationship between humans themselves and the external forces of labor and social structures.

Confucian moral doctrine that placed people into a hierarchical canon is attached by Lu Xun in the novel who advocates for equality as the new philosophy of life. The work is intended to identify feudalism as cannibalism in China and instead call for freedom of

The novel The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood takes the Biblical origin story of man and creates a Garden of Eden for the end of the world. The novel’s allusion to Genesis adds to the message that the hardships befalling humanity and the destruction of the earth are due to man’s sinful nature just as Adam and Eve’s punishments and expulsion from paradise were a direct result of their sin. Adam and Eve, the first to live immorally on earth, are now recreated into a group of people that will witness the world’s end in a reflection of its beginning. The new Garden of Eden is created and lost in a time when new intelligence is created by man and evil fights for the hold of man once more. However, just as the expulsion from the original Garden led to the beginning of the world known today, the expulsion from the second Garden leads to the creation of a new world where humanity is largely absent.