Book Review I

Title: Watching the tree
Author: Adeline Yen Mah

About the book:
Watching the tree consists of twelve chapters:
- Watching the tree to catch a hare (守株待兔)
- Light at the end of the tunnel（否极泰来）
- Hidden and Nameless Tao （道隐无名）
- Do not do to others what you do not wish others to do to you (己所不欲，勿施于人)
- Look inwards for salvation （回头是岸）
- Thousands and tens of thousands of varieties of Qi （气象万千）
- Let food be medicine（以食为廖)
- Know the opposite party as well as you know yourself (知己知彼)
- Hidden logic within the shape of words（字形藏理）
- The sight strikes a chord in my heart （触景生情）
- Frog at the bottom of a well （井底之蛙）
- The lessons of silence （不言之教）
In each chapter, Adeline talks about the I Ching, yin/yang, the five elements, the Tao Te Ching, religion, Confucius, women’s inferior status in China, feng shui (风水), education in China and Qi. Through her own life experiences, she brings to readers easy understand of eastern wisdom and philosophy and show how those in the west can benefit from teachings of the east.

Thoughts:
After reading this book, I learnt more about Chinese wisdom and beliefs. This book taught me many life values and things that I can apply in my daily work. In the chapter on education, it is said that in many Chinese minds, an educated person, no matter how poor, still commands more respect than one who is rich and ignorant. I did not know that education is such an important aspect in being a respectable person in the society. Perhaps this is why students in China are so hardworking.

In another chapter, Adeline talks about religion. It was written that her grandfather was very open-minded about religion. He said, “It’s all a question of viewpoint. The Christians believe in Jesus whereas Confucius believed in the ideal man (君子). The priests talk of rewards in Heaven after death. Confucius taught us to concentrate on being a good person on earth. Why can’t a person be a Confucian, a Buddhist, a Catholic and a Protestant at the same time? Why does one belief have to exclude one another? After all, they all teach the same principles.” Only when I read it then I realized that actually all the religions are similar. The difference is in the way the principles are taught. If you look at them at different viewpoints, everything becomes the same. I FELT ENLIGHTENED!

In some parts of the book, I felt bored by the content. One example is the chapter on feng shui (风水). I was confused by the explanation on having an ideal site which was to be bounded by the Green Dragon of the East, the White Tiger of the West, the Red Bird of the South and the Black Tortoise of the West. I do not understand how do you decide whether a slope represents a certain animal. Perhaps I was not interested in feng shui (风水) thus being bored. However, there are chapters that are interesting to me. Some examples are the one on Qi, religion etc.

If you want to learn more about Chinese wisdoms and beliefs, this will be a book for you (:

Jolene Chia