Reflections on Chinese New Year and Culture: The Sequel

The Lunar New Year is perhaps the most powerful window into the tangible beauty of Chinese culture. During this festival, so many people across the globe collectively adjust their pace and spirit, gathering to embrace an atmosphere that is familiar, warm, and perhaps a bit cluttered, yet overflowing with the vibrant "fireworks" of human life.

The Spring Festival always reminds me of the many elegant, kind, and beautiful elements within ancient civilizations. Though they may seem somewhat "outdated" in the twenty-first century, they possess a luster distilled by time—a radiance rarely found in our "instant" society. They are like lustrous pearls, polished through countless pains; they may be solitary, yet they are rounded and self-harmonious.

Reflections on Chinese New Year

If I could be a cultural messenger today, I would still carry with me:

• "Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you."

• The elegance of "A friendship between gentlemen is as pure as water."

• Du Fu’s gentle observation: "Good rain knows its season, coming forth when spring happens."

• Li Bai’s soaring confidence: "Heaven has made me talented, and I must be used; a thousand pieces of gold scattered will return again."

• Wang Wei’s profound clarity: "Walking to where the water ends, sitting to watch the clouds rise."

• I would certainly not forget the wisdom of "Highest virtue is like water," and the realization that takes a lifetime to truly grasp: "How unexpected! My own nature is originally complete in itself."

At the same time, I have discovered that across the many diverse cultures of our Earth, there are thoughts that shine with the same human wisdom and light. I resonate with Nietzsche’s decree: "Every day I count as lost in which I have not danced at least once." I can perceive Kant’s insight: "Beauty is a purposeless joy." And I deeply admire the Stoic resolve: "We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them."

Every culture is the sediment of long history and profound humanity. Culture is silent and invisible, yet omnipresent—it is the spiritual wealth collectively created and passed down by the wise people of this planet through centuries of refinement.

I am grateful to our human ancestors for leaving us such a rich and magnificent heritage. I will forever be like a child gathering shells by the sea, surrounded by vast and beautiful beaches. I am also thankful that I can use my own vision and judgment to select and preserve the thoughts that, to me, are the most beautiful, valuable, and fitting. These are the pearls I string together into the most precious cultural necklace of my life—one that will accompany me always.

Year of the Horse, 2026. May the world be at peace.

[Read in Chinese 阅读中文版】