Pour the sea into the cup

Author: Wu Jiaxiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-03-01
Features: Chinese culture is a bit peculiar, like the Jingdezhen porcelain kiln. The difference in capacity between the large and small vessels it produces is immense:
"Unity of Heaven and Man" – some align themselves with Heaven, making their vessel ever larger; while others allow Heaven to align with them, believing Heaven is only as big as their own small scale, thus making their vessel small.
Frogs at the bottom of a well are a specialty of China. Unlike Christian civilization, where God's size is fixed. In that context, the divine is innocent, and humans are guilty, so there is no excessive arrogance; the divine is infinite, and humans are finite, so there is no excessive self-importance; the devil is hopeless, and humans have redemption, so there is no excessive self-neglect.
Western cups may not hold the sea, but they can hold themselves. Pouring the Sea into a Cup uses leftover thoughts, small fragments stripped from major ideas, ripples on the surface of theoretical waters, and small reflections from life's circumstances. These things might serve a purpose, if you encounter a snowy day in life where the roads are slippery, or if you need to cross a great river in life and must build a boat. The title Pouring the Sea into a Cup is quite fitting, not too frivolous. Of course, I dare not be arrogant enough to claim that every passage in my reflective notes is a fine cup containing the ocean of thought. What I can say is that emptying a cup of life and pouring the ocean into it without overflowing is the highest pursuit of Chinese culture's personality, and also a dream of this book.
In reality, we see other cups – some hold a little water and feel vast, only wanting to toast with the great ones. Some cups are very proud, thinking their greatness is boundless without external limits and their smallness is boundless without internal limits, claiming they can hold all the oceans in the world. When the sea falls, it overflows and floods the surroundings.