It has been only 100 years since the world began to exchange actively but the cultural gap still isn't narrowing. What were the characteristics of scholars in the culture of using Chinese character? Their spirit is said to be an inherited melting pot of Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist cultures. Writings regarding meditation which is based on Confucianism combined with Buddhism and Taoism has been chosen to introduce in English. There was a book that has been already translated into English but it was out of print. Therefore I plan to translate it into English referring to the version of Korean translation. It may deviate from the original intention of author's. However, it is only added up to the thoughts of the old with the thoughts of the present through this writings like a melting pot.
Source of Original Text1 | Source of Original Text2 | English Version1(Out of Print) | English Version2(Out of Print)
Wise, profound, spiritual, humorous, witty, and timeless, The Unencumbered Spirit is, in short, a book about putting greed and competition aside, about getting at the true, clear essence of things, free of distractions and encumbrances. It is a book about living without stuff, whether it be material, psychological, or spiritual. About living with simplicity and awareness. The Unencumbered Spirit: Reflections of a Chinese Sage
Written 400 years ago by a scholar in the Ming Dynasty, one hundred years after Columbus and around the time Shakespeare completed Henry VI, accomplished scholar and philosopher Hong Zicheng retired from public life and settled down to write an informal compilation of his thoughts on the essence of life, human nature, and heaven and earth. Though he wrote other books as well, only this one has survived—thanks largely to its continuous popularity, first in China and later in Japan and Korea. Entitled Caigentan (Vegetable Roots Discourse), this book has been studied and cherished for four hundred years. Vegetable Roots Discourse: Wisdom from Ming China on Life and Living