Yeah.....the art of tea drinking was something that I observed with fascination! A friend of mine had old tree trunks in his factory, and I asked what those were for. He used to serve us tea with his set similar to the pic you have up there, and now he has fashioned tea tables similar to this pic here. Some people are just so creative and innovative.

oh man, this is so right on the money. My good parents taught me most of these things, the other things I have not heard but know to be true with knowing the other things. I will keep reading it till it is framed in my mind so I can share with others.

'Lovely'! Keep Smiling!

Thank You, Ame. Keep Smiling.

"Mr. Chu, The considerate husband"


At the village of Chu in Chi-yang, there was a man named Chu, who died at the age of fifty odd years. His family at once proceeded to put on their mourning robes, when suddenly they heard the dead man cry out. Rushing up to the coffin, they found that he had come to life again; and began, full of joy, to ask him all about it. But the old gentleman replied only to his wife, saying, "When I died I did not expect to come back. However, by the time I had got a few miles on my way, I thought of the poor old body I was leaving behind me, dependent for everything on others, and with no more enjoyment of life. So I made up my mind to return, and take you away with me."


The bystanders thought this was only the disconnected talk of a man who had just regained consciousness, and attached no importance to it; but the old man repeated it, and then his wife said, "It's all very well, but you have only just come to life; how can you die again directly?"


"It is extremely simple," replied her husband. "Go and get ready." The old lady laughed and did nothing; upon which Mr. Chu urged her again to prepare, and then she left the house.


In a short time she returned, and pretended that she had done what he wanted. "Then you had better dress," said he; but Mrs. Chu did not move until he pressed her again and again, after which she did not like to cross him, and by-and-by came out all fully equipped.


The other ladies of the family were laughing on the sly, when Mr. Chu laid his head upon the pillow, and told his wife to do likewise. "It's too ridiculous," she was beginning to say, when Mr. Chu banged the bed with his hand, and cried out, "What is there to laugh at in dying ?" upon which the various members of the family, seeing the old gentleman was in a rage, begged her to gratify his whim. Mrs. Chu then lay down alongside of her husband, to the infinite amusement of the spectators; but it was soon noticed that the old lady had ceased to smile, and by-and-by her two eyes closed.


For a long time not a sound was heard, as if she was fast asleep; and when some of those present approached to touch her, they found she was as cold as ice, and no longer breathing; then, turning to her husband, they perceived that he also had passed away!

"This is a true story of Mother'��s Sacrifice during the China Earthquake"



After the Earthquake had subsided, when the rescuers reached the ruins of a young woman'�s house, they saw her dead body through the cracks. But her pose was somehow strange that she knelt on her knees like a person was worshiping; her body was leaning forward, and her two hands were being supported by an object. The collapsed house had crashed her back and her head.


With so many difficulties, the leader of the rescuer team put his hand through a narrow gap on the wall to reach the woman'��s body. He was hoping that this woman could still be alive. However, the cold and stiff body told him that she had passed away for sure.


He and the rest of the team left this house and were going to search the next collapsed building. For some reason, the team leader was driven by a compelling force to go back to the ruined house of the dead woman. Again, he knelt down and used his had through the narrow cracks to search the little space under the dead body. Suddenly, he screamed with excitement,� "A child! There is a child!"


The whole team worked together; carefully they removed the piles of ruined objects around the dead woman. There was a 3-months old little boy wrapped in a flowery blanket under his mother'��s dead body. Obviously, the woman had made an ultimate sacrifice for saving her son. When her house was falling, she used her body to make a cover to protect her son. The little boy was still sleeping peacefully when the team leader picked him up.


The medical doctor came quickly to examine the little boy. After he opened the blanket, he saw a cell phone inside the blanket. There was a text message on the screen. It said, "If you survive, you must remember that I love you." This cell phone was passed around from one hand to another. Everybody who read the message, wept. "If you survive, you must remember that I love you."

"Such is the mother'�s love for her child!"

"A Story of a Deep and Profound Love from China: The Tale of Liu and Xu A Truly Beautiful Tale of Love!" [An incredible love story has come out of China recently and managed to touch the world.]



It is a story of a man and an older woman who ran off to live and love each other in peace for over half a century.


Over 50 years ago, Liu, a 19 year-old boy, fell in love with a 29 year-old widowed mother named Xu. At that time, it was unacceptable and immoral for a young man to love an older woman. To avoid the market gossip, the couple decided to elope and lived in a cave in Jiangjin County in Southern Chongqing area of China.


In the beginning, they had nothing, no electricity or even food. They had to eat grass and roots they found in the mountain, and Liu made a kerosene lamp that they used to light up their lives. In the second year of living in the mountain, Liu began and continued for over 50 years, to hand-carve the steps [over 6000] so that his wife could get down the mountain easily.


The couple had lived quietly together for over 50 years until recently. Liu, now 72 years, returned from his daily farm work and collapsed. Xu sat and prayed with her husband as he passed away in her arms.


So in love with Xu, was Liu, that no one was able to release the grip he had on his wife's hand even after he had passed away.


Will and Guy have discovered that the local government in the area has decided to preserve the love ladder and the place they lived as a museum, so this love story can live forever.

Of all the above, this stood out:-
Follow the three R's of good karma:
Respect for self
Respect for others and
Responsibility for all your actions.

Thank you, Kaustuv for this post!

I know very hard to believe???? Us New Yorkers are so mellow.. so understanding..so mild mannered Lol

You Are Most Welcome, Amelinng! Pleasure's mine!

"Lao Tzu Quotes":



"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love."



"Being deeply loved by someone gives us strength, while loving someone deeply gives us courage."



"Silence is a source of great strength."


"Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment."


"Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses."


"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be."


"Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."


"The people are hungry: It is because those in authority eat up too much in taxes."


"Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it."


"Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful. Good words are not persuasive; persuasive words are not good."


"Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline; simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weakness postulates strength."


"The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself."


"He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know."

"He who conquers others is strong; He who conquers himself is mighty."

"From caring comes courage."


"Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy."


"The more laws and order are made prominent, the more thieves and robbers there will be."


"Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment."

"How could man rejoice in victory and delight in the slaughter of men?"


"He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much."

Chapter One in Pin Yin
d�o ke d�o,fei ch�ng d�o
m�ng ke m�ng, fei ch�ng m�ng
w�m�ng, tian d� zhi shi:
youm�ng, w�n w� zhi mu.
g�, ch�ng w�y�, yi guan q� mi�o,
ch�ng youy�, yi guan q� jiao.
ci liang zhe, t�ng chu �r y� m�ng.
t�ng w�i zhi xu�n,
xu�n zhi y�u xu�n, zh�ng mi�o zhi m�n.

The Tao that can be spoken of
Is not the Everlasting Tao
The name that can be named
Is not the Everlasting name
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth
The named is the mother of ten thousand things
Therefore, ever desireless
One can observe the hidden mystery;
Ever desiring
One can observe the manifestations.
These two issue from the same origin,
Though named differently.
Both are called the dark.
Dark and even darker,
The door to all hidden mysteries.


Another English version

"The Wise Old Man"



A wealthy man requested an old scholar to wean his son away from his bad habits. The scholar took the youth for a stroll through a garden. Stopping suddenly he asked the boy to pull out a tiny plant growing there.

The youth held the plant between his thumb and forefinger and pulled it out. The old man then asked him to pull out a slightly bigger plant. The youth pulled hard and the plant came out, roots and all. "Now pull out that one," said the old man pointing to a bush. The boy had to use all his strength to pull it out.

"Now take this one out," said the old man, indicating a guava tree. The youth grasped the trunk and tried to pull it out. But it would not budge. "It's impossible," said the boy, panting with the effort.

"So it is with bad habits," said the sage. "When they are young it is easy to pull them out but when they take hold they cannot be uprooted." The session with the old man changed the boy’s life!


"Moral":

Don't wait for Bad Habits to grow in you, drop them while you have control over them; else they will gain control over you!

"Bao Gong interrogates a rock"!


Once there was a little boy whose mother was very sick. He needed to earn money to buy her medicine, so one day, he went to market and sold a huge basket of fried bread. He sat by a rock and counted his money with greasy fingers from the bread oil. He had exactly 100 copper coins – enough to buy medicine. He had been selling bread all morning and was very tired, so he lay next to the rock and took a nap.


When the boy woke up, his basket of coins was gone! So, he started to cry.


Passing by, a renowned official named Bao Gong saw the boy crying. Bao Gong was famous for his cleverness, and asked the boy what was wrong. "My money from selling fried bread is gone," the boy wailed.


Bao Gong looked around and thought for a moment. With a flourish, he pointed accusingly at the rock where the boy had napped. "This rock stole your money, I'm sure of it. I'll question the rock and tell it to give your money back."


The boy stopped crying as Bao Gong started shouting at the rock, cursing the rock's mother and threatening to grind it into gravel. A crowd gathered to watch Bao Gong interrogate the rock. The general consensus was, "Is this guy for real? We thought Bao Gong was supposed to be smart."


Bao Gong whirled on the crowd. "How dare you question me. You're all fined one copper coin for speaking ill of an imperial official."


The crowd grumbled about the unfairness, but Bao Gong filled a pot with water and commanded that each person put in one coin. When one man put his copper into the pot, Bao Gong ordered the crowd to seize him. "This is the real thief! When he dropped the coin into the pot, you could see a film of oil on the water. All the boy’s coppers were greasy from the bread." The thief had no choice but to give the coins back to the boy, and the boy went home with enough money to buy his mother medicine.


'Moral':

"Don't underestimate cleverness, even if it appears to be crazy!"

I'm surprised you read all these stuff, Kaustuv.
Justice Bao is legendary for his 'investigative' skills and a symbol of'justice'.

NO MSG !!!

Thank you for your appreciation, Amme. And I thank you too for helping me learn about 'Justice Bao'. I didn't know that 'he' is legendary for the aforementioned skills. 'Life has always been a learning process' for me & for 'mankind' in general. This occasion isn't an exception. Thank you for being 'there', Amme. May you keep 'smiling' & shining' as always.

Guys the best Chinese thing to ever made is an app called Wechat. Don't take my word for it. Try it .

I hear there is a better one out called Momo , the english version comes out in couple of months time . If it is truly better then my Wechat sexperience (oh! Typo "experience") then I guess I'll be laughing for years to come. Trust me and download and see for yourself .

LOL........yes, MSG in chinese food is common! However, I have never bought a single pack of that and don't use it in my cooking at all.

FYI: Major ingredients used in the manufacture of MSG include corn, sugar cane or tapioca. In the U.S. “AJI-NO-MOTO” is made from corn through fermentation. The ones we have here are from Thailand and made from tapioca, and sometimes also referred to as 'umami'.

"The Chinese farmer" [Source: 'Unknown']



There is a Chinese story of an old farmer who had an old horse for tilling his fields. One day the horse escaped into the hills and, when all the farmer's neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, 'Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?'


A week later the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, 'Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?'


Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, 'Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?'


Some weeks later the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg they let him off. Now was that good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?