ARGH my bloody GE presentation is KILLING ME! Another conspiracy I think. Even after the translation from ancient Chinese to the Chinese language we use now, the entire passage is real incomprehensible!!!

We have now reached 道家. The most famous philosophers from this school of philosophy are 老子 and 庄子. After reading their philosophies.. I suddenly feel like I'm gonna be a 神仙 soon!!! Ya know.. like.. the Taoist priests and all.. yeah.. they all practise the Taoist school of philosophy. So KS learns about the Taoist School of Philosophy, KS becomes 神仙. It all adds up nicely don't it? Simple mathematical substitution. Yeah.. come now... everyone quick sucka me... mebbe I can try to get you people a place in front of the Heavenly God. And oh.. as for the specifications of my temple, juz gimme pink roofs, purple walls, and..... wahahahaha nono I'm kidding. EH I don't dare to make fun of the gods and goddesses.. later I will get struck by lightning.

Anywayz the most famous philosophies that came from this school of thought..
绝圣弃智，民利百倍；绝仁弃义，民复孝慈；绝巧弃利，盗贼无有。
Many who are strong supporters of the Confucian School of Philosophy thought that this means that Taoism asks us to stop educating the people <弃智>, and to become cold and unfeeling <绝仁弃义> but this is not true!
What it actually means is if we do not have a fixed concept of certain things, like beauty or value (for eg you find a gold chain very valuable, or you find a girl very pretty. These are concepts that we have fixed in our mind.. the definition of beauty and valuable, he calls this 智), then there will be no desire to be pretty or to have something of great value. The people will thus benefit. If we do not have a fixed definition of what is filial piety and loyalty, we will not feel obliged to be filial or loyal due to pressure from the society. Whatever filial piety or loyalty that comes from us will then be carry the true meaning of filial piety or loyalty cos it comes right from our heart, not from obligation. (I find this particularly true!) Lastly, if we do not have a fixed concept of beauty or wealth, there will not be any thieves in this world! *clap clap* so smart!

Now on to the more interesting stories. (Yeah there are interesting stuff to be learnt from this course too ya know?)
This is the story of this man who is a strong believer in 老子's philosophies. That means, live your own life, be happy, you don't have to care about what the society thinks, you don't have a fixed concept of beauty, wealth, and everything else. Every object in this world is equal in status. This way you can be truly happy.
Anyway this man who lived during the 魏晋南北 era.. he's a nudist.. as in, he doesn't wear any clothes at home. (YEAH!! I JUST betcha he's probably the VERY FIRST nudist ever..). So one day this Confucian scholar visited him at his home, and proceeded to scold him.. 不知礼义廉耻.
His reply was,"Everything in this world is equal, and thus I treat this four walls as my clothes. I have never stepped out of them. So who's the one who doesn't know his manners.. you or me? You just walked into my pants!"

Another interesting story... this one is about 庄子. He's a follower of Taoism. In fact, he's one of the most influential person in this school of philosophy.
So one day he was sleeping, and he dreamt of himself being a happy butterfly. He flew happily here and there and everywhere! Then suddenly, with a jolt, he woke up. He realised, with a shock, that he was not a butterfly, but a human 庄子! WAHHHHHHH!!!!
And like all smart asses, he had did not let this weird feeling juz go away and pretend nothing had ever happened. (Another eg of a smart ass is Isaac Newton who did not juz leave the apple alone after it fell on his head.) So 庄子 thought and thought about it... and came up with his most interesting theory to date. He asked himself,"Was it 庄子 who went to sleep, and subsequently dreamt of the butterfly? Or was it the butterfly who went to sleep, and subsequently dreamt that it had become a human, 庄子?" Heh oh by the way that was to further emphasize the point that all things are equal, butterflies and humans not excluded.

Your brain neurons in tangles now? Feel like knocking your head against something now?! Yeah that is what I go thru everytime I see my Chinese GE stuff. Wahaha I've succeeded in bringing my pain to the rest of the people here! Wonderful! K now back to preparing for my presentation.