Sunday, December 09, 2007

Getting acquainted with Chinese philosophies

A few weeks ago, while having dinner with XS, we spoke briefly about Chinese philosophies, particularly the teachings of Lao Zi. It struck me that while I have had read briefly on some parts of Chinese history, my knowledge of Chinese philosophies and its culture is still limited.

In the hope to start somewhere to learn more about Chinese philosophies, I borrowed a few related books from the library and read them over the week. As I have limited prior knowledge of the teachings of Lao Zi and other Chinese philosophies, I decided to start by acquainting myself to these philosophies. The books that I had borrowed were in English. I realised that it was rather akward to read about Chinese philosophies through books written in the English language. Somehow, I realised that the essence of the thoughts would better be conveyed using Chinese.

Whatever it is, one still have to start somewhere. I am on the journey to learn more.

***
Books I have read for the week:

Sayings of Lao Zi (Asiapac Comic Series) Book 1 and 2 (Paperback). Edited & Illustrated by Tsai Chih Chuang. An Asiapac Publication.


2 comments:

eastcoastlife said...

You should try to read the original Chinese books. Most translated books aren't accurate. It's very different.

It;s good you are picking up the teachings of Chinese philosophers. There is a lot to be learnt.

oceanskies79 said...

ECL: Hopefully I could find some Chinese version that are easy to understand for beginners like myself.