Tao Te Ching

The Power of Goodness, the Wisdom Beyond Words
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Huizong 徽宗

(Emperor Huizong of Song)

1082 – 1135 CE

Great artist, failed ruler

Polymath, poet, musician, called “one of the greatest Chinese artists of all time,” but an incompetent leader taking disastrous advice to disastrous results; Huizong demonstrated the difficulty of blending art and politics. Collecting over 6000 paintings, he sponsored artists, wrote poems, painted, reformed court music, and wrote dissertations on Taoism, tea ceremony, and medicine. His foreign policy decisions however and military neglect led to a Jurchen invasion and the ending of the Song Dynasty, his demotion to commoner status, and the last 8 years of his life spent as the “Besotted Duke" jailed in a remote, cold province prison. He promoted monumental philanthropic efforts including founding orphanages, hospitals, and schools; but, his failure to balance his religious Taoism with the Confucian mainstream prevented the maintenance of a strong government.

Eras

Unlisted Sources

Quotes by Huizong (2 quotes)

“Ah, butterflies now, dancing in air, lost along fragrant pathways;
Flitting, fluttering, see how they flow, painting the evening breeze.”

Themes: Butterfly

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“Sometimes I visit in dreams
And yet all alone
Sometimes I am even unable to dream”

Themes: Dream

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Quotes about Huizong (1 quotes)

“Sung dynasty emperor and one of China’s greatest calligraphers and patrons of the arts. His [Tao Te Ching] commentary was finished in 1118, shortly before he was taken captive by nomad invaders.”

Red Pine 1943 CE –
( Bill Porter)
Exceptional translator, cultural diplomat
from Lao-Tzu's Taoteching

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