Strange Beasts of China

by Yan Ge

We have barely any knowledge, but are conceited enough to fill books with our ignorance anyway.

Even with flourishing beasts taking care of them, trees will get attacked by bugs, they’ll rot away, they’ll die. It’s the law of nature. That’s all we get in this life, and all we can hope for is that we leave behind some good seeds.’

Every story is someone else’s myth. Life holds no pleasant surprises for us, only nasty shocks.

There is an ancient saying: birth is a process of returning, death is a process of longing.

Humans possess intellect, and claim the knowledge of the ages. They take neither sorrow nor joy from material gain or personal loss. Thus their existence is more difficult than necessary, as they strive too hard for cleverness, and push away from the heart. The fugitives fear capture, and the captured fear escape. They live out their days in uncertainty. What good fortune for the beasts, to lack intelligence; how cursed humans are, that they possess it.