Hello and welcome to Ancient Tales of Wisdom on Sound of Hope Radio Network. This is Catherine Hennessy. Today I’m going to narrate to you a Chinese story called ‘Kokushi’. I hope you will enjoy it.
During the Tang Dynasty, there lived a monk named Wu Tatsu Kokushi, who was awarded the Kokushi title (an honorary title given to Buddhist masters).
One day before being awarded the Kokushi title, Wu Tatsu Kokushi met up with a monk who was ill. The monk had boils all over his body. He was filthy and emitted an awful body odor. Everyone avoided him except for Wu Tatsu Kokushi. He took pity on the sick monk and took care of him. Gradually, the monk returned to health. Before they parted, the monk thanked Wu Tatsu Kokushi and said, “If you ever run into any tribulation, please look for me at Jiu Long Mountain, in Peng Zhou, Sichuan Province. You need to look for two pine trees next to each other.”
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Hello and welcome to Ancient Tales of Wisdom on Sound of Hope Radio Network. This is Catherine Hennessy. Today I’m going to narrate to you a Chinese story called ‘An Emperor Who Paid Great Respect to Heaven and Worked Tirelessly for His People’. I hope you will enjoy it.
Emperor Yu’s surname was Si and his given name was Wenming. He lived during the 21st Century BCE and was known as one of the most virtuous emperors in Chinese history. He inherited the virtue of “work for sentient beings but not for oneself” from the previous emperors Yao and Shun. He paid great respect to the divine and heaven, worked on flood control, and taught his subjects moral principles. He accomplished so much and his merits were so great that people say he was sent by heaven to eliminate floods and save people. Many have therefore called him “Yu the Great” or the “Yu the God.”
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Hello and welcome to Ancient Tales of Wisdom on Sound of Hope Radio Network. This is Catherine Hennessy. Today I’m going to narrate to you a Chinese story called ‘Emperor Kang Xi Taught His Children to Recite a Book 120 Times’. I hope you will enjoy it.
During the early period of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kang Xi had a very special method of educating his descendants. The Emperor had 35 sons, 20 daughters, and 97 grandchildren.
So how did Kang Xi educate his descendants? He used various methods to teach his children and grandchildren. One method was by example. He took his heirs on hunting expeditions, rounds of inspections, and even to battle. It is through these kinds of hands-on experiences that he raised and trained his children and grandchildren. He also used the classroom to teach his children and grandchildren.
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A party of visitors had been seeing the sights at Hsi Ling. They had just passed down the Holy Way between the huge stone animals when Bamboo, a little boy of twelve, son of a keeper, rushed out from his father’s house to see the mandarins go by. Such a parade of great men he had never seen before, even on the feast days. There were ten sedan chairs, with bearers dressed in flaming colours, ten long-handled, red umbrellas, each carried far in front of its proud owner, and a long line of horsemen. [click to continue…]
Li Linfu (who died in 752 A.D.) was Prime Minister for Emperor Tang Xuan Zong (713-756 A.D.) of the Tang Dynasty. He lived on the east side of Luoyang City. When he was 20 years old he had yet to take up serious studies, though he enjoyed swimming, hunting, and was fond of falcons and dogs. He often stood upside down on his hands and leaned against a wall to rest.
One day he met a Taoist who told him, “Although you are very good at this, you may one day fall suddenly into a calamity, and then it will be too late! Li Linfu immediately stood up normally and said that he would cultivate himself and practice morality from then on, learn to be respectful and prudent, and give up his bad behavior. The Taoist said, “I’ve traveled the world for 500 years and you’re the only one I’ve met who has a predestined relationship with the divine. After you’ve completed your cultivation and consummated you can rise up in broad daylight and leave thus becoming an immortal. If you don’t wish to cultivate you can be Prime Minister for twenty peaceful years and wield great power. Now go home and think about what you want, and come back and see me in three days.”
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