The Interpretation of Wisdom: Proverbs and Quotes from around the World.
Discover how the ancient wisdom of the T'ai Hsüan Ching comes alive in your hands through a unique blend of philosophy, wordplay, and global insights. Here's how this proverbs and quotes app compiles its profound answers and thus becomes the Wisdom App.
The Mystery of the Original: T'ai Hsüan Ching
The foundation of our app is the T'ai Hsüan Ching (The Mystery). The original text (likely based on Ssu Ma Kuang's compilation) is available online at:
Beyond Words: The Art of Wordplay
This film illustrates the timeless wisdom that underpins our app. It poetically shows how universal patterns repeat themselves eternally in the flow of time – the wisdom contained in the quotes and proverbs in our app.
For the interpretation of the appraisals, we have deliberately used
exclusively proverbs and quotes from around the world. Their fields of meaning either coincide with or at least overlap with the keywords of the appraisals in Michael Nylans translation.
With this kind of "wordplay," we find ourselves in excellent company! Even the creator of the Mystery himself, Yang Xiong, loved witty wordplay, omissions, ambiguities, and illogical conclusions to draw the reader's attention and outdo his opponents and interlocutors.
The Limits of Language and the Search for Truth
Another factor that has led us to take a rather 'generous' approach to the text of the 'T'ai Hsüan Ching' is the ongoing discrepancy between reality and its linguistic description.
- Lao-Tse: "The truth that can be spoken is not the ultimate truth."
- Goethe: "As soon as one speaks, one begins to err."
- Nietzsche: "Every word is a prejudice."
These very different thinkers have each, in their own way, emphasised the limitations of linguistic expression and the inevitable discrepancy between reality and its linguistic representation. Goethe’s quote makes this abundantly clear.
The Special Nature of the Chinese Language
Added to this are the unique characteristics of the Chinese language:
Much of what is marked morphologically in our language is conveyed there. This is done through word order, particles, and, above all, context.
Classical Chinese is known for its remarkable syntactic and semantic flexibility, which allows for a great deal of creativity and adaptability in how it is used.
A striking example of the uniqueness of the Chinese language is the character “玄” (xuán), which can mean "mystery" or "darkness", but depending on the context, may also refer to deception, magic, illusion or playfulness.
Quality and Authenticity: Our Canon of Answers
To ensure we didn't stray too far from Yang Xiong words despite these linguistic challenges, we consistently consulted the competent translation by Michael Nylan for cross-referencing. Her historically knowledgeable and empathetic annotations greatly contributed to our understanding of the Mystery.
Thus, a relatively independent canon of answers, a "Mystery-wordplay" so to speak, was created. It evokes both the T'ai Hsüan Ching and the I Ching, yet mimics its systematics so stringently that it seems justified to access it according to Shao Yong's guidelines. We are sure: Yang Xiong would certainly have turned a blind eye to that as well.
This interplay of oracle sayings, quotes, wisdoms, and proverbs from diverse sources and eras impressively shows that people across the globe and throughout all times were not only similarly entangled in the same conflicts and, despite all their cultural differences, they found surprisingly similar practical answers to life's questions.
The background images are excerpts from works by the following great artists: Ma Yuan (1160-1225), Huang Gongwang (1269-1345), Wu Zhen (1280-1345), Ni Zan (1301-1347), Wang Meng (1306-1385), Li Zai (unknown-1431), Shen Zhou (1427-1509), Tang Yin (1470-1524), Wang Shiming (1592-1680), Kung Hsien (1618-1689), Hua Yan (1682-1756), Hokusai (1760-1849), Hakabayashi Chikkei (1776-1853), Hiroshige (1797-1858), Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)..
A Book: Bridging Wisdom and Art
While selecting the background images for this app, I stumbled upon the immeasurable treasure of ancient Chinese landscape paintings. I was so fascinated by them that I envisioned a fusion of the T'ai Hsüan Ching with these artworks. This resulted in a book that, due to its 729 full-page color prints, unfortunately became very costly. Therefore, an eBook was also created, which additionally offers an INTERACTIVE ORACLE FUNCTION. The T'ai Hsüan Ching / Young I Ching is a special work that allows the wisdom of the T'ai Hsüan Ching to be experienced in a unique visual way.
This website accompanies the book
The T’ai Hsüan Ching – The Oracle of Open Chance
and offers additional guidance on its use.
The book invites readers to approach chance not as disruption, but as a form of conscious attention.
Through a simple numerical structure, it leads to specific images and texts that may be understood as reflections of inner questions and situations.
For orientation, you will find here a brief explanation of the oracle’s navigation, as well as an accompanying video that introduces the structure and use of the work.
The book is available in the following editions:
eBook
