The mythical creature originating in ancient Chinese lore, the Foo dog, essentially a hybrid of a dog and a lion, was thought to ward off evil spirits.
Taoism and Lao Tzu
The most prominent symbolism associated with the tortoise is longevity. Known for its impressive lifespan, the tortoise is often seen as a representation of immortality. In Chinese tradition, it is believed that the tortoise can live for hundreds of years, thus becoming a metaphor for enduring life and the wisdom that comes with age.
The tortoise plays a role in various Chinese traditions and festivals. For instance, during the Chinese New Year, tortoise images may be displayed to invoke good fortune and longevity for the coming year.
In Feng Shui, the tortoise is considered a sacred animal that brings protection and stability to households. Tortoise figurines are often placed in homes or offices to attract wealth and ensure a harmonious environment.
Chinese New Year in 2026 is scheduled to start on Tuesday, February 17, and lasts until the Lantern Festival on March 3, the date of the next full moon.
What Mencius, who was a foremost teacher of Confucianism tells us in his commentary of the Tao Te Ching is that “The way we care for Heaven is by guarding our minds and nourishing our natures”.
Are we really meant to spend our days slouched on the couch, watching The Price is Right or The Wheel of Fortune until we feel numb, or losing ourselves in reading fiction that offers no real meaning, maybe even mindlessly scrolling through Facebook? What does it truly mean to think consciously or to view the world around us with a critical eye?
Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching chapter/verse 59 tells us in governing and caring for Heaven we are to be sparing, frugal, thrifty, even economical stressing restraint.
When we follow the Way and always plan ahead, we build up virtue. Building virtue means gathering everything we need, leaving nothing we can’t overcome. Conquering all challenges leads to limitless potential, with no one knowing where it might end. Having this is called guarding the mother (in ancient times this was a reference to the state), develop deep roots, and a firm base. Lao Tzu teaches that by living in harmony with the Tao, we can enjoy a long life and a lasting sense of purpose.
Should we ask ourselves if we are more than what we seem on the surface and seek spiritual awakening? Not in a casual religious sense, but in a way that explores the timeless question of how to find and nurture the light within us, and how to ask the right questions to understand our ultimate role and presence. For me, I’ve found a sense of belonging in ancient Chinese thought and philosophy.
Sometimes I feel my fascination with ancient China paused in 1295 AD, when Marco Polo returned to Italy. After traveling around China for the past twenty years, I can’t help but marvel about watching how things have changed over the more than a thousand years.
Especially the Marco Polo bridge in Chengdu that saw him cross over numerous times when he was there. The Polo brothers felt the most beautiful women they met in their travels in China could be found in Chengdu. Noticing what once was then and seeing it again now feels like walking in the footsteps of history where everything is different than before. It’s not about living only in the past, but in remembering who we’ve always been helps to acknowledge the path we take today.
I wrote my own version of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching in May and June of 2000. More than twenty-five years ago. Verse 59 follows:
Verse 59 – Remaining as an edge that does not cut
Traveling back in time when I was one with my contemporaries; Lao, Lieh, Chuang, and yes even Kong (Confucius), I am reminded of times spent debating the great thoughts of the day, serving the emperor only a way to expand the path that should be taken.
Facilitating order, eschewing the truth only found in cause and effect continually reminded that there is no right or wrong. That one’s destiny is only vaguely tied to our endeavors we become attached to in the here and now. Keeping happiness at arm’s length knowing it can only be followed by sadness. Both alternatives as if seasons.
Repeating through the ages the axiom that when either government or that governed stand aloof, the people remain relaxed and unconcerned as the sage remains in the background. Letting things take care of themselves, he is content to be free of direction as if blown along by the wind. Transcending uncertainty, he can see where everything begins and ends.
While the world withers and the Tao ebbs and flows, the sage remains content to remain as the edge that does not cut, as a point that does not pierce, as a line that does not extend and a light that does not blind.
By entering the world of seeming confusion he extends the Tao to the world and shows the way. Living in paradox and knowing where things end, he begins to transform all those around him.
59. 甘做钝器
在对当今的重大思想问题进行了辩论之后，我与老子，列子，庄子还有孔子及时回来，为皇帝出谋划策只是为了开辟道路。
使秩序便利，回避只见于因果中的真实。不断提醒众人，世上并没有对和错之分。一个人的命运只是模糊地维系于我们此时此刻的努力中。要与快乐保持一定的距离，乐极则生悲。如同季节，
快乐和悲伤交替而至。
有一句古话说，当政府和被管理者保持距离时，人民就得以安居乐业。如果圣人隐退，人民就可以无忧无愁。让事情顺其自然。圣人满足于无方向，随风而去。驾驭风云变幻，圣人能够看见事物的始终。
当世间万物凋谢，大道衰落，随流而去时，圣人依然乐于做不能切的刀，不能戳的刺，不能延伸的线，不能熄灭的灯。圣人向这个混乱的世界展示道。尽管生活充满悖缪，圣人知道事物在何处结束，并着手改变世界。
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