Zhang Chao 張潮

1690s

Nothing makes a person happier than leisure, and that does not mean having nothing to do. With leisure you can read. With leisure you can visit famous places. With leisure you can make good friends. With leisure you can drink wine. With leisure you can write books. What greater pleasure is there in the world?

人莫樂於閒，非無所事事之謂也。閒則能讀書，閒則能遊名勝，閒則能交益友，閒則能飲酒，閒則能著書。天下之樂，孰大於是？

Dream Shadows (Youmengying)

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1690s

Reading in youth is like peeping at the moon through a crack. Reading in middle age is like looking at the moon from the courtyard. Reading in old age is like enjoying the moon from a terrace. How deep the gain goes depends only on how deep one's experience has gone.

少年讀書，如隙中窺月；中年讀書，如庭中望月；老年讀書，如臺上玩月。皆以閱歷之淺深，爲所得之淺深耳。

Dream Shadows (Youmengying)

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1690s

In ruling yourself, carry the air of autumn. In dealing with the world, carry the air of spring.

律己宜帶秋氣，處世宜帶春氣。

Dream Shadows (Youmengying)

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1690s

Flowers cannot be without butterflies. Hills cannot be without springs. Rocks cannot be without moss. Water cannot be without waterweed. Tall trees cannot be without creepers. And a person cannot be without an obsession.

花不可以無蝶，山不可以無泉，石不可以無苔，水不可以無藻，喬木不可以無藤蘿，人不可以無癖。

Dream Shadows (Youmengying)

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1690s

Flies gather on people's faces and mosquitoes bite people's skin. What on earth do they take people for!

蠅集人面，蚊嘬人膚，不知以人爲何物！

Dream Shadows (Youmengying)

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1690s

With a learned friend it is like reading a rare book; with a friend of taste, like reading the poems and prose of a famous hand; with an upright friend, like reading the classics of the sages; with a funny friend, like reading a novel.

對淵博友，如讀異書；對風雅友，如讀名人詩文；對謹飭友，如讀聖賢經傳；對滑稽友，如閱傳奇小說。

Dream Shadows (Youmengying)

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1690s

A person should try to be fit for a poem; a thing should try to be fit for a painting.

人須求可入詩，物須求可入畫。

Dream Shadows (Youmengying)

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