The Vegetarian's Manual (Upper, Middle, and Lower)

Author: Ji Jianghong
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-07-01
Features: The Art of Happiness is a collection of aphoristic essays focused on the philosophy of living, written in a-style format. It is filled with insightful and inspiring sayings, profound yet accessible, encouraging personal cultivation, willpower, and a positive outlook. The author chose the name "The Root of Vegetables" for the book, implying that "one's wisdom and cultivation can only be achieved through arduous tempering." However, The Art of Happiness was written four hundred years ago, so while its valuable aspects should be embraced, the feudal remnants that occupy a significant portion of the text should also be discarded as the useless roots of vegetables.
Like a gentle breeze and soft rain cleansing the soul, The Art of Happiness uses vegetables as metaphors, deriving life philosophies from vegetable roots—about how to conduct oneself in the world, cultivate oneself, and seek enlightenment beyond worldly desires. Written by the Ming Dynasty author "Huang Yingming" (also known as "Huan Chu Dao Ren"), the text is concise, elegant, and enjoyable for both scholars and laypeople, offering timeless wisdom. It blends Confucian moderation, Daoist (non-action), and Buddhist detachment into a comprehensive philosophy of life and conduct, becoming a widely popular approach to dealing with the world. While it also encourages people to achieve success, actively engage in society, and pursue progress with optimism, the classical Chinese language of the ancient text poses challenges for modern readers.
To address this, we have specially translated The Art of Happiness into a language more suited to contemporary readers, making this philosophical work accessible as a leisurely read. The illustrated edition of The Art of Happiness is based on the original text and presents ancient Chinese profound philosophical thought from six different perspectives: how to conduct oneself in the world, applying knowledge in practice, self-cultivation, indulging in pleasure appropriately, success and failure in career, and returning to simplicity. Over 320 selected aphorisms are accompanied by annotations, translations, analyses, quotes from renowned scholars, and typical historical anecdotes, offering multi-layered, multi-angle, and comprehensive interpretations of life philosophies.
Additionally, the book includes over a thousand exquisite illustrations of famous paintings from various dynasties, historical artifacts, portraits of emperors and officials, and more. This allows readers to more intuitively, authentically, comprehensively, and effortlessly savor the wisdom of The Art of Happiness, uncover the mysteries of life, and grasp its true essence.
"Chew on the root of vegetables, and you can achieve anything." Grounded in contemporary life challenges and drawing on the wisdom of the ages, this book analyzes modern life issues with clarity. By carefully reading it, you can rediscover the forgotten joy of life, find paths for self-cultivation and ethical conduct, learn to look far ahead, and embrace life with an open mind.