Mount Qingcheng is a sacred Taoist mountain in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. It is considered one of the birthplaces of Taoism and one of the most important Taoist religious sites in China. In Taoist mythology, it was the site of the Yellow Emperor’s studies with Ning Fengzi. As an important site of Taoism, it became host to many Taoist monasteries and temples. The mountain has 36 peaks. The mountain is also home to Dujiangyan Giant Panda Center and since 2000 has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I visited Mount Qingcheng, Dujiangyan waterworks, and the pandas in 2014. Oh, and the original Kung fu Panda movie used the mountain as inspiration…
Taoism and Lao Tzu
Catching up with old friends, especially Lao Tzu, is always a joy. Looking back on shared experiences and memories brings to mind the days when we were still figuring out how the important pieces fit together. Now, it’s about seeing how it all turned out. A lot has happened since May 2000, when I wrote the original piece below that now gets a commentary. Now just fine-tuning to make the next step clear, as paradox continues to shape the path after finishing My Travels with Lieh Tzu.
We will get to this much later, but for now looking to Chapter 47 of the Tao Te Ching tells us:
“In this way the sage knows without exploring; He sees without having looked: He achieves without doing”.
This thought continues in Chapter 22 with:
Give way and overcome. Bend and become straight. Empty yourself and become full. Use up things and they become new”.
A key idea in understanding Taoism is that reality is a balancing act between opposites, as taught in the I Ching with the yin and yang. 
Nature thrives on the harmony of complementary forces, yet these opposites are always in a subtle struggle for dominance. When one side seems to take control, it eventually begins to wane.
This concept reveals why principles change and situations evolve over time with the Tao as being the origin beyond the original. What occurs as the synopsis of existence Lao Tzu reminds us in the Tao Te Ching. That it is from this origin come the forces of yin and yang. From them come Heaven, Earth, and Humanity and from these all forms of existence.
One of the difficulties of the storyteller is asking at what level of understanding the audience has where there might be common or middle ground? For the sage, it is knowing how these opposites can come or work together for the common good. For this commentary, keeping up with the responses thus far, doing the content in both English and Chinese would be helpful. So, entries from this point will include both.
V. Irreverently Meandering through Time
Traveling on the wind once again the sage proceeds as if at home. Remaining above the clouds he looks down, unconcerned.
Waiting to see if anything of importance lies beneath him.
Following dragons again and clouds beyond the horizon you reflect on mirror images of yourself and seeing that your destiny lies below. As always when traveling with dragons, you remain irrelevant to time.
Comforted in knowing that your journey and today’s path continues to find peace and harmony and a clearer understanding of your place in the universe, as your destiny remains assured. Events only occurring to move you ever-forward as you meander as if unknowingly through as time.
Your destiny tied to endeavors forever remaining a paradox. As you remain an enigma that others come to depend on for and wisdom taking them to places they otherwise would never go. As you remain a magnet for others simply showing the way.
Returning briefly home again, as if only irreverently meandering through time.
放荡不羁的漫游
圣人再度乘风出游，宛如闲庭信步。他在云里不经意地俯视，静观人间的变化。
随着群龙漫游，云在地平线外飘荡。你看见自己的身影，看见自己的命运就系在下面。象通常与神龙同游那样，时间与你毫不相干。
你对寻找安宁和谐的旅行和今天的途径都感到安慰。因为命运已定，你对自己在宇宙的位置就有了更清晰的认识。你不知时日地漫游，一路上的遭遇只能够促使你继续前行。
Following the twelve animals of the zodiac Qingyang Taoist Temple
你维系努力的命运始终是一个悖缪。你是一个神秘人物，人们纷纷前来请你指点迷津和赐予智慧，你把人们带进了一个从未涉及的世界。你所展示的道象磁铁般吸引着人们。
若只是在云中傲散，你不妨回家休息片刻。
When we think of what comes next with Taoism and Lao Tzu, and what the word prelude means, we think of something preliminary to an action, event, condition, or work of broader scope and higher importance. The word prelude becomes the perfect segue… To move smoothly and unhesitatingly from one state, condition, situation, or element to another. “It’s like living within the realm of a cosmic knowing always asking and getting ready for what comes next”.
Twenty-six years ago, when I wrote the following Prelude, Lao Tzu was signaling that I was ready to rise to higher ground after becoming accustomed to “keeping to the lower clouds”, just as I had been instructed. 
Filled with the lessons Chuang and Lieh had shared, I was ready to step back into an ever-changing role—not just telling the story but fully embracing the experience of becoming the story myself.
That writing my own version of Lao’s Tao Te Ching came with a price to pay. Moving ever closer to seeing beyond the nature of the reality found on earth that appears to be meant to be something new. To be especially suited to carry the Tao beyond what K’ong, or Confucius, intended or could achieve in his time, as he caught glimpses of ideas that would later evolve into Taoist philosophy.
However, Confucius was limited by the constraints of his time and bound to a more formal, functional view that upheld the status quo. Reminded that we have to consider the times and constraints of our predecessors.
VI. Prelude
Begin approaching the Te Tao Ching and your mentor Lao Tzu by seeing beyond life’s transparencies as if sorting through the clutter clouding your mind and your way.
Coming to understand that your final destination lies with the angels, or dragons, you have come to know over eons of time and space as you begin to contemplate returning home once again.
Not in the physical sense as if in the here and now but taking steps to become the sage that belies your destiny. Knowing that true destiny can only be revealed by endeavoring to get it right this time.
It is in this spirit that I come forth to pursue my final unveiling.
序
走近《道德经》和大师老子，就如同清理了思想和人生道路上的杂物，生命一下子变得如此清澈透明，一目了然。
终于明白你的命运取决于天使或神龙。到返家的时候，你已经领悟到时空的无边无际。
此时此刻，你彷佛置身梦中。然而，只能通过努力，才能成为主宰自己命运的主人。
现在才知道真正的命运只能够通过奋斗才能揭示。
正是本着这种精神，我前来追求我的最后归宿。
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