Caigentan
Sign in to savethumb|Painting in the Hsinchu Tian Hong Temple, featuring a quote from Caigentan. The Caigentan () is a circa 1590 text written by the Ming Dynasty scholar and philosopher Hong Zicheng (). This compilation of aphorisms eclectically combines elements from the Three teachings (Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism), and is comparable with Marcus Aurelius' Meditations or La Rochefoucauld's Maximes.
Key facts
- Chinese.t
- 菜根譚
- Chinese.s
- 菜根谭
- Chinese.p
- Càigēntán
- Chinese.w
- Ts'ai-ken t'an
- Chinese.l
- Vegetable Root Discourse
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7 sectionsContents
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- Textual history
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- References
- Further reading
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thumb|Painting in the Hsinchu Tian Hong Temple, featuring a quote from Caigentan. The Caigentan () is a circa 1590 text written by the Ming Dynasty scholar and philosopher Hong Zicheng (). This compilation of aphorisms eclectically combines elements from the Three teachings (Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism), and is comparable with Marcus Aurelius' Meditations or La Rochefoucauld's Maximes.
==Title== Chinese Caigentan combines , , and . This compound is a literary metaphor meaning "bare subsistence" (originating in Zhu Xi's ). The Chinese proverb literally means " chewed vegetable roots can accomplish anything", or figuratively "One who has gone through hardships can do anything". "By vegetable roots, food such as turnips, radish, carrots and sweet potatoes is meant", says Vos.