“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”
- Bruce Lee
天坛; Temple of Heaven; Beijing, China.
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." ~Confucius
"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading."
~Lao Tzu
Seventy-Year-Old Door, Temple of Heaven.
In 1779, when Emperor Qianlong was 70 years old, he felt his health was failing, so the officials of the Ministry of Rituals suggested opening a small door in the wall west of the Imperial Hall of Heaven so as to shorten the distance of his walk to the ceremony. The emperor gladly accepted it. But because of the fear that his offspring would abuse this convenience, he issued a decree saying,"From now on only he among my offspring can enter and exit by this door who has reached the age of 70. "Hence the name "Seventy-Year-Old Door." None of the later emperors reached this advanced age; so, Qianlong was the only person who had used this door.
In search of Chinese graffiti... not an easy task!
“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.”
~Thích Nhất Hạnh
“Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.” ~Buddha
