June 19 (Lunar calendar: May 2), 2023 Monday | Dawnxisoul393art

  

"The Carp Jumping over Dragon's Gate", painted by dawnxisoul393

The thoughts on our painting: "The Carp Jumping from the Dragon Gate"

Let's review the story of "carp jumping over the dragon's gate". In our east, there is an ancient legend: There was a "Dragon Gate Mountain" in the world, there was a "Dragon Gate" on Dragon Gate Mountain, and heaven was on the other side of the Dragon Gate Mountain. A long time ago, carp living in a small river heard that the paradise outside Dragon Gate Mountain was very beautiful, so they wanted to see it. Starting from the river where they lived, they swam to the river in front of Dragon Gate Mountain after thousands of hardships. But there was no waterway in Dragon Gate Mountain, so they had to gather at the foot of Dragon Gate Mountain to discuss countermeasures. "I have an idea. How about we jump over Dragon Gate Mountain and go to heaven?" A big red carp said to everyone. "But the mountain is so high, how can we jump over?", "If we don't jump well, we will fall to death." The carp hesitated. At this time, the big red carp took the initiative to say, "I'll jump first, I'll try." The big red carp jumped to the cloud and used all his strength from half a mile away, just like an arrow leaving the string, using the elasticity of the clouds in the air to help it rush forward.

Suddenly, a sky fire chased the red carp and burned its tail. The big red carp endured the pain, continued to jump forward, and finally crossed the Dragon Gate on Dragon Gate Mountain and fell into the lake on the other side of Dragon Gate Mountain. In the twinkling of an eye, it became a red dragon. Seeing this scene, the carp on the other side of Dragon Gate Mountain was too frightened to take any more risks. At this time, suddenly, a huge red dragon came down from the sky and said, "Don't be afraid, I'm your friend big red carp because I've jumped over the Dragon Gate, I've become a dragon, please jump over the Dragon Gate Mountain as bravely as I did!" After hearing this, the carp were inspired and began to try to jump over Dragon Gate Mountain one by one. However, except for some brave and strong carp, most of them didn't jump over Dragon Gate Mountain. Those carp who couldn't jump over Dragon Gate Mountain had scars on their foreheads. Therefore, until today, people can still find scars on the foreheads of many carp.   

Illustrated by dawnxisoul393

In the past, we may have experienced difficult years of pain and setbacks, and maybe there will be confusion and uncertainty in the future. The big red carp invited us to take a firm step. Let our inner energy clear our fears, doubts, and mistrust, and don't be afraid of the risk of moving forward. Jump higher, feel the power of vibration and find the source of love. We are not alone. With the spirit of the red carp, we will not be lost. Take measures to realize our dreams and aspirations. Once we work hard, once we strengthen our confidence, our inner conflict will stop, and we will enjoy more love, peace, and happy lifestyles. In our painting "The Carp Jumping from the Dragon Gate", red and black occupy the whole picture, suggesting passion and wisdom. It is a spiritual light that guides us to use our power. Stick to our strength, believe in ourselves, and take the initiative to accept new things. We have the ability to change our inner world, and our future is entirely in our own hands.

Sometimes, when we praise a student who has studied hard to enhance his or her values, we often use an allusion called "the carp leaping from the dragon gate. This is a very common allusion in Asia. But in real life, many people do not believe that a creature like a fish can jump so high. However, we once saw a realistic version of a fish jumping high in a small stream. At that time, although there was no dragon's gate, it was a very fast stream. Under the condition of drop, several levels of small waterfalls were formed. The water flow was really very fast. People were easy to fall into the stream when they stood in. But in this turbulent current, a group of fish tried their best to go up against the current. No matter how many times the current rushed them down, they still continued to push upward tenaciously. This scene was really very similar to the legendary carp jumping over the dragon's gate. 

Fish will have this "leap over the dragon's gate" action, which is formed due to their own living habits. There are many fishes in freshwater, although they live in the lower reaches of the water system, they need to return to their birthplace, the upper reaches of the stream, when spawning. This habit is called the migratory habit, which is common to many kinds of freshwater fish. In order to return to their birthplace and breed the next generation, the scene of desperate struggle with the fierce water flow is really very inspirational. Even if they can't become dragons, they can make a world for the next generation through their own efforts. The story of carp leaping over the dragon's gate is fictional, but inspirational is true. However, as human beings, what kind of process do we need to go through to make such efforts? Each of us is eager to grow and change our current situation, but we are often shattered by various difficulties in reality.

Illustrated by dawnxisoul393

Is there any way in the world to enable us to "carp jump over the dragon's gate"? yes. Read and study. We have been reading and learning since primary school and even kindergarten. The first stage of reading and learning is to meet our own curiosity, we have no initiative, this is "knowledge reading", at this stage, we only live in our own world. Further is "questioning reading learning", which is produced to solve some practical problems, when we encounter unsolvable problems in life and work, finding answers in books is a very common and good method, which is meaningful active reading and learning. The high stage is "theme reading and learning", when we finish reading a book with questions, reading some articles, and enjoying some paintings, sometimes our questions are not completely solved, so we have to collect excellent books, articles, and paintings on related topics to read and enjoy.

Because many excellent books, articles, and paintings in the same field have concentrated the efforts of authors in the same field for several years or even longer, and have also been precipitated over years. If we read 10 excellent books, 100 excellent articles, and 1000 excellent paintings in the same field, we will absorb the skills of human beings for several years or more. This is really meaningful reading and learning. When we actively pay attention to the works of other artists and friends on blogs and other art websites, we will see all kinds of experts with unique skills. They may be the source of our growth. However, if knowledge is not systematic, it is of little value. If we don't really digest it and don't try to think deeply, understand and digest it into our own things, in essence, it is the same as not reading and learning. Because if knowledge has breadth but no depth, we will lack foresight.

Deep thinking is as important as diligence. Sometimes deep thinking determines life. Once deep thinking becomes a habit, our life will be very different. Now is the era of information explosion, but not every piece of information is valuable. The first thing to do with the information is to distinguish whether it is valuable or not. The thinking process is like the process of the blind touching the elephant, trying to look at the problem from multiple levels and angles. The process of understanding the elephant is the structural thinking logic owned by human beings, and each part is found according to the structural thinking logic. We, humans, have the ability to think abstractly. But if it is too abstract, it will be divorced from reality. Sometimes we don't have a deep understanding of the problem. To some extent, we don't grasp the details. The essence of things is wrapped by layers of appearances. If we don't pursue this to the end, we may think that what the appearance presents is the essence of things, thus misleading ourselves.

Illustrated by dawnxisoul393

With the spirit of red carp leaping over the dragon's gate and deep thinking, we can overcome the challenges in life and work. An ordinary stone can become a bright diamond under pressure. In the journey of life, we will experience countless challenges, maintain a positive attitude and let our hearts get more love and wisdom.

Original by dawnxisoul393, 

"The Carp Jumping from the Dragon Gate", Dawnxisoul393