Thought: Cultural Reflection Essays of the "Secret Series"

Author: Sun Xiong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: Renowned writer Sun Xiong, famous for his novels Xuelu (Snow Cottage), Yanchen (Dust), and Mengkan (Threshold), poured three years of effort into crafting the cultural and philosophical essay collection Thought. This book consists of eight "secret" series essays. Reading this book, you will surely feel the author's strong,. For example, in "The Secret of Prosperity," it jumps from an American highway to reflections on war and peace, then leaps to Toynbee and Augustus, before returning to the Tang Dynasty in China. Truly, as the author says, "experiencing an alternating process of confusion and enlightenment."
A friend introduced me to Zhuge Village in the Jiangnan water towns, which is said to be worth visiting. Legend has it that the descendants of Zhuge Liang, the famous strategist from the Three Kingdoms period, fled ten times during wars and built the village according to the ancient Bagua (Eight Trigrams) formation. The inner Bagua is a maze-like cluster of buildings with complex pathways. That small village really managed to escape countless wars and remains well-preserved to this day. I still remember getting lost and dizzy while wandering through the village. After seeking guidance from the locals, I suddenly had a breakthrough—when I squeezed out of an alleyway and saw the clear pond at the center of the village, my mind instantly relaxed.
While writing the eight essays in this book, I often experienced the same alternating process of confusion and enlightenment.