Ji Xianlin on Teachers and Friends

Author: Ji Xianlin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Ji Xianlin's thoughts are like a thick encyclopedia, reading which enlightens the mind, while his character is like crystal-clear water, with great virtue and wisdom hidden in plain sight. "In the world languages I know, only Chinese tightly embeds '' (gratitude) and '' (teacher) together, forming an inseparable noun. This can only be explained as the Chinese people's understanding of repaying teacher's gratitude, something unattainable for other nations. The way of making friends is also difficult. There is opportunity, there is chance, there is meeting and bonding instantly, and there is facing each other in confusion. The depth of friendship does not necessarily correlate with the length of time spent together." — Ji Xianlin
I have made friends all my life. What kind of people do I like? The kind of people I like are roughly like this: simple, sincere, honest, and approachable; with a backbone but a soft heart; with genuine feelings and the courage to speak the truth; not flattering or gossiping behind people's backs; not having two faces; without the intention of seeking attention, but with a spirit of seeking truth from facts; not completely disregarding their own interests, but considering others more; most importantly, they can distinguish right from wrong and have the courage to do so, thus daring to stand up against injustice, help those in need, and hate evil with all their hearts; the key is a single word — 'truth,' being a person of genuine nature; at a higher level, of course, it is the brief phrase from Mencius: 'Riches cannot corrupt, poverty cannot move, and power cannot bend.' What I pursue is the '' (understanding friend) spoken of by the ancients.
(Note: The original text contains repeated segments in Chinese, and the translation reflects the first occurrence of each segment. The second occurrence of the same text is not translated again to avoid redundancy.)