April 24 (Lunar calendar: March 5), 2023 Monday | Dawnxisoul393art

 

"Carp Meditation of the Wise Man, Jiang Ziya", painted by dawnxisoul393



The carp in our metaphorical painting "Meditation on the Carp of the Wise Jiang Ziya" is a very special carp, the embodiment of a true wise man, with shiny scales and a distinctive black skeleton marking from head to tail. Red and gold are as bright as the sun, while black is as dark as the night. It swims in the vast rivers, leaving waves of wisdom in its wake. "The Wise Jiang Ziya Carp" invites us to close our eyes, relax deeply, enjoy our inner peace, find the compass of our heart and align it with all the energies around us.

We were inspired to create our painting "Carp Meditation of the Wise Man Jiang Ziya" by the ancient great wise man "Jiang Ziya". The "Wise Man Jiang Ziya" was a descendant of the legendary "Emperor Yan", who lived a turbulent life for most of his life. As a young man, he held a very minor official position in Chaoge, the capital of the Shang Dynasty. Seeing the debauchery and tyranny of King Zhou, the murder of loyal subjects, the prevalence of treacherous and cunning people, and the uncertainty of his future, Jiang resigned from his official position in a fit of rage. When Jiang Ziya was seventy-two years old, he heard that Ji Chang, the Western Marquis of Zhou, had recruited many talents in order to overthrow the Shang Dynasty. Many famous and capable people, hearing the news that Ji Chang, the Marquis of Xibo, was recruiting talents, ran to the Zhou state to join him.

Jiang Ziya also came to Xiqi, the city of Ji Chang, the Marquis of Xibo, with others. One day, Ji Chang, the Marquis of Xibe, went out of the city for hunting. Before going out, he used the eight trigrams to project and got a message: "He is not a dragon, but if you can get him, he can assist you to become a hegemon". Ji Chang, the Marquis of Xibo, was astonished. Ji Chang, the Marquis of Xibo, was leading a group of people, passing by the bank of a tributary of the Wei River, when he suddenly saw an old man sitting at the edge of the river. The old man's hair was white, but his back was straight. Although he was dressed in cloth, he could not hide his immortal bones. Then look at his fishing rod, it is even stranger. The fish hook is three feet high from the surface of the water. No bait, the fish hook is straight. Xi Bo Hou Ji Chang walked up in surprise and asked, "Old man, your fish hook is straight, how can you catch fish?" 

The old man said loudly, "This hook does not fish for shrimp, but only for dragons and phoenixes. This is called the willingness to take the bait". Ji Chang, the Marquis of Xibo, suddenly realized that this man should be the "auxiliary minister" mentioned in the trigram. Xi Bo Hou Ji Chang took the old man's hand and sat on a stone by the river, and the two talked. Ji Chang, the Marquis of Xibo, found that this old man named Jiang Ziya was a man of vision and knowledge. He was proficient in astronomy and geography, studied politics and military, and especially analyzed the political situation at that time very reasonably. Xi Bo Hou Ji Chang asked Jiang Ziya to get on the train with him, returned to the capital, and appointed Jiang Ziya as the military commander (the highest military official, equivalent to the present-day marshal).

His wisdom focused on the concept that "no one is perfect, a wise man meditates, narrows his interests, builds his strength, hones his abilities, and increases his value". It seems to be a coincidence that Jiang Ziya went from being an unknown old man to being entrusted with important responsibilities and leaving a glorious page in history, but it is inevitable. There is an old folk saying, "I was born with talent. We first got to know Jiang Ziya from the mythological and historical novel "The investiture of the gods". By studying the life of Jiang Ziya, we have a better understanding of what we really want for ourselves and what really suits us.

As we take some time to ease our minds and reach the realm of wisdom meditation, we find that we are intimately connected to the realm of wisdom meditation. We cannot do everything in our lives, nor do we always have the ability to do everything perfectly, so we narrow our own interests, gather our own existing strengths, and hone our own existing abilities. When we polish our skills toward a specific goal, everything becomes different.


(Original by dawnxisoul393,
One of Our Spiritual Self-Healing Thoughts



The carp in our painting is a very special and mysterious carp, which we call "The Carp Meditation of Jiang Ziya, the Man of Wisdom". Although it has an incomprehensible name, this carp is a real wise man, with shiny scales and significant black skeleton markings from the head to the back. Red and gold are as bright as the sun, and black is as dark as the night. It swims in the vast river, leaving happy flowers. The relaxed "The Carp of Jiang Ziya, the Man of Wisdom" invites us to close our eyes, deeply relax, enjoy our inner stillness, find the compass in our heart, and align it with everything around us. When we coordinate with the energy of the earth, everything in our life will become more harmonious and balanced. The world is too busy, full of chaos, noise, and disorder. Fierce competition and bad environment make us don't know what to do and how to do it. The "Wise Jiang Ziya Carp" tells us that when we take some time to ease our thoughts and reach the land of wisdom meditation, we will find that we have a close relationship with the land of wisdom meditation. In this land, we have and radiate wisdom, happiness, and prosperity. Let "Wise Jiang Ziya Carp" take us to the depths of wisdom meditation land to find our expertise. Deep in the land of wisdom meditation, we know what we really want and what really suits us. We can't be good at doing everything. We don't have the ability to make everything perfect, so we need to narrow our interests, gather our existing strengths, refine our ability and improve our value. When we polish our skills towards a special goal, everything will become good. The "Wise Jiang Ziya Carp" in our painting is inspired by the ancient wise man "Jiang Ziya".

The wise man "Jiang Ziya" is the descendant of the legendary "Yan Emperor". Although Jiang Ziya is the descendant of Yan Emperor, his life experience has not brought him any glory. For most of his life, Jiang Ziya lived a turbulent life. As a young man, he held a very minor official position in Chao Ge, the capital city of the Shang Dynasty. Jiang Ziya saw King Zhou's debauchery and tyranny, loyal officials were victimized, treacherous and cunning were in power, and his future was slim, however, he resigned his official post in anger. In order to make a living, he helped people sell meat, the boss thought he didn't know how to please guests and dismissed him. He went to Mengjin near the Yellow River to sell his goods, but his luck was very bad, when he sold umbrellas, the weather was a great drought, when he sold fans, the weather became cold, in short, he lost money on everything he sold. The folklore says that once Jiang Ziya asked for food for three days, and finally a man gave him half steamed bun, he was just about to pick up the bun to eat, a vicious dog pounced on him and bit his trouser leg, he bent down to pick up a stick to beat the dog, picked up was a snake, until he shook off the snake, dry food has been eaten by the dog, he opened his mouth just to curse the dog, a crow flew over his head, the crow took a shit just fell into his mouth. King Zhou was despicable, brutal, and murderous. Many civil and military dignitaries were killed by him in a cruel way. Some officials were even chopped into meat pastes after their death, and even let his ministers share them, as a warning to those who opposed him. Xibo Hou Jichang (King Wen of Zhou) was imprisoned because he sighed and said "too much!". Ji Chang sat in prison and did nothing. He suddenly remembered that he had obtained a picture on the edge of the Yellow River in his early years. At this time, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that the picture was mysterious and contained many changes and mysteries, so he devoted himself to research. The monotonous and boring life in the prison made him seek the solution without any distractions. He finally realized the subtleties of the book, which is known as "Zhou Yi" for future generations. The ministers of Ji Chang, the Marquis of Xibe, presented beautiful women, horses, and jewelry to King Zhou. Ji Chang was free and returned to his hometown. Since then, he has adopted a policy of concealment, accumulated strength, worked hard to govern, and solicited sages in all directions.

When Jiang Ziya was seventy-two years old, although not ambitious, but still very frank and calm to face life. When Jiang Ziya was living every day with no surprise, he heard that in order to overthrow the Shang Dynasty, the Marquis of Xibe recruited many talented people, and many famous and capable people, hearing the news that the Marquis of Xibe was looking for talented people, ran to Zhou to join him, and even some famous ministers of the Shang Dynasty also ran to Zhou. Even some famous ministers of the Shang Dynasty came to Zhou. Jiang Ziya also came to Ji Chang's Xiqi City with the others. One day, Ji Chang, went out to hunt with a heavy heart, and before he went out, he used the eight trigrams to deduce and came out with, "He is not a dragon, and he is not a bear, but if you can get him, you will get a deputy who will assist you to become a hegemon." Ji Chang was so amazed. Ji Chang led the crowd, passing by the bank of a tributary of the Wei River when he suddenly saw an old man sitting at the water's edge fishing. The old man's hair was white, but his waist was straight, and although he was dressed in cloth, he could not hide his immortal bones. Looking at his fishing rod, it is even more strange. The hook is three feet high from the water. Without bait, the hook is still straight. Surprised, Ji Chang moved forward and asked, "old man, your hook is straight. How can you catch fish?" the old man didn't return. He said in a loud voice: "this hook doesn't fish, doesn't fish shrimp, and only fish dragon children and grandchildren. It's called the willing to take the bait." Ji Chang suddenly realized that this person should be the "auxiliary minister" mentioned in the hexagram. Ji Chang took Jiang Ziya's hand and sat on a rock by the river, and the two talked. Ji Chang found that Jiang Ziya was a far-sighted and knowledgeable man. He was well versed in astronomy and geography, and had studied politics and military affairs, especially the political situation at that time, and analyzed it with good reason and sense. Xibo Hou Jichang asked Jiang Ziya to get on the bus with him and return to the capital. Jichang soon appointed Jiang Ziya as Military Division (the highest military official, equivalent to a Field Marshal). After Jiang Ziya took office, his political and military talents soon appeared. In 1134 BC, empress Ji Chang of Xibe died of illness, and his eldest son Boyi Kao was also killed by King Zhou. The second son Ji Fa ascended the throne as King Wu of Zhou. The army of Shang and Zhou was defeated by the fierce attack of the Zhou army. King Zhou saw that the general situation was gone and burned himself to death, which led to the demise of the Shang Dynasty. Jiang Ziya's life was a quiet and legendary life, from being worthless to being entrusted with an important task, it seems to be a coincidence, but it is inevitable. There is an old folk saying: "I am born to be useful". Jiang Ziya's life is full of ups and downs and many trials and tribulations, and he is a person of great wisdom and all-around intelligence. Throughout his life, he has made outstanding contributions in the military, governance, economic thought, and other aspects, especially the military. Jiang Ziya's military strategic thinking is a standard that has been followed by later generations of soldiers. We first learned that we knew Jiang Ziya from the historical novel list of gods. Jiang Ziya in the novel has powerful magic power and profound wisdom. Although the real Jiang Ziya does not have the magic skills in the novel, there are few people whose wisdom can be compared with that in the 5000-year history. Jiang Ziya was an official in the Shang Dynasty. At the end of the Shang Dynasty, King Zhou ruled tyrannically and the people were miserable. Jiang Ziya resigned and lived in seclusion. The reason why Jiang Ziya became a meritorious official in destroying the Shang Dynasty had a lot to do with the fact that he had been an official in the Shang Dynasty in his early years. As the saying goes, "If you know yourself and your enemy, you will never lose a hundred battles". The story behind it is by no means as simple as we thought. Through the discussion and study of the life of Jiang Ziya, now that we are in the depths of the land of wisdom meditation, we know more about what we really want for ourselves and what is really right for us. We can't be good at everything we do, and we don't have the ability to make everything perfect. Therefore, we need to narrow our interests, gather strength, sharpen our abilities, and increase our values. When we polish our skills toward a particular goal, everything becomes different.

Illustrated by dawnxisoul393





The thoughts and stories behind our metaphorical painting "Carp Meditation of the Wise Man, Jiang Ziya", Dawnxisoul393


(783w)


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