Alo and De Zeal #45
(PD) Alo and De Lake on Land.
Copyright ©2018 October 20, 2018
Jun: Yan is having fun with his new hobby... whenever I am out of the room, he often busies himself by writing in his journal. His writings are becoming sizable... he has told me that the writings help him to think of things previously spoken of, and to present to himself new thoughts of how the old thoughts are now interpreted in new ways.
De: Alo is also pleased of Yan's writings, to see and to observe how other people interpret Alo's own words... many of Yan's ideas are unique, and very interesting to Alo...
Jun: Yan appreciates Alo's proof-reading the journal's words, to ensure that Yan has correctly given proper concepts of Alo's own words...
De: Yan is mindful, striving to create an accurate recording of thoughts... rare...
Jun: Yan's enjoyment of translating ancient texts, is growing near to Alo's... to me, the translations appear to be a lot of work... I prefer the boys just telling us what they chose.
De: Ha! Me also usually... although, sometimes I want to study the old words myself, to gather an idea of how the ancients' lives might compare to our own today. But too, within the old writings, to me, sometimes it looked like whoever wrote the writings, might not have written exactly what had been said in discussions... perhaps, just a personal interpretation of someone else's words... condensed... paraphrased... might not have same message...
Jun: Differences... Yan and Alo, they have a zeal for life... a zeal to speak correctly... a zeal to live correctly... a zeal to learn correctly... but many people who translate old words, to me it has appeared that they have no zeal... the people merely write words, and not care about correctness... inventing children's stories... not speaking of what the old words spoke of.
De: Yes, I have seen that also... Alo, he spent many years, striving to find answers... he endured many years, struggling... he lived many different kinds of life, just to learn from... firsthand experience... live secluded, to learn what it is like... live in crowds, to learn what it is like... to give belief in a belief, to learn what the belief is like... his zeal for understanding was great... and now he can use those years, to understand if words were written by men of understanding, or by men of books.
Jun: I have heard the whispers of elders'... some of the old men are talking about Alo's ideas, and of Yan's also. The elders are cautious, not wanting to too quickly open a door that might not be able to later be closed... but, the elders are musing amongst themselves, of perhaps using a portion of Yan and Alo's ideas, to be as a guide, or, perhaps more accurately, as a story book, one that can be shared with our children, and, also, for the elders to also watch, and to determine if the neighbors might enjoy some of the ideas.
De: Interesting idea... people enjoy following a lifestyle that is fun to them... most people follow lifestyles seen in Hollywood movies... few hippies and beatniks would have existed, if not for Hollywood... similar for urban cowboys and motorcycle riders... almost all of the people, just following a lifestyle that someone else was already doing. If a little book of ancient stories was made available, it is a worthy question to ask... might people wish to copy some of the stories' way of life?
Jun: Now I am curious... if people did find the stories to be fun, would the people also ask of themselves for a style of clothing that better harmonizes with the style? And if so, then what sort of style might it be? Yan has talked at length of the people he met across the west ocean... each culture possessed beauty, but different from nearby cultures... he said that from the region of from where most of the ancient books came from, the people's ancient style of clothing was most attractive to him... our clothing is still a little like our distant cousins', and also a little like some of the neighboring nations to the west today.
De: At first I felt an urge to run and sew new clothes... I have also seen pictures of people from where the ancient texts arrived... their clothes were very pretty... but then I thought to myself... if we wore different clothes, just for appearances, then would we not also have a zeal to change our homes to look similar as the western cultures'? Then I also thought... where would it end? Change clothes, change homes, change land, change behaviors, change community... and then, I realized, we would be following a different standard, one born within an enjoyment of someone else's life... harmony would falter... chidao, become second-thought... love, less... Nature's way, ignored... so, no... for me, I must choose what is already present... style of clothes, whichever best supports chidao.
Jun: Oh, you just deflated my urge for new clothes! Ha! But you are right... outer appearances, are not much important...
De: Interesting emotion of zeal... heightened interest... heightened energy... a strong urge to go do the thing that is interesting... willing to devote one's life to doing the thing... but outward, not aimed at an inner... although, heightened interest for caring for husband, that also is outward, but... like Yan said, cannot love and follow two masters... no, that, there, there is my answer... I cannot permit myself to follow a style... my zeal is for Alo, and I choose to not lessen the zeal by sharing it by following a lifestyle. Also, Alo's zeal is now for me... ancient words are unimportant, just a hobby for him... I will not harm his zeal by my not reciprocating a similar zeal for him.
Jun: Excellent points... yes, I agree on all... but, just so that you will know beforehand, the next time I sew new clothes, I might accidentally make a small mistake, and make my collar a little higher, like that of the western cultures... purely by mistake! Then I can watch, to see Yan's response... my excuse will be of my experimenting to see if Yan's zeal for me can be increased.
De: Ha! Okay, then I will avoid making a similar mistake until after you let me know how Yan responded!
Jun: Ha! Will do!
De: But, also, this is interesting... clean and tidy clothes are important to show our husbands that we care to present ourselves properly... dirty and sloppy clothes express uncaring... there exists a fine line between too much and too little caring for material things... 'Poem say: "Clothes bright, yet jiong (plain cover with no lining)." Bad it pattern for him to wear also, so junzi, his way is as-if dark, yet sun rule. Tiny person, his way is as if white, yet sun dies.' To me, the words point to reasoning... the pattern of how people dress, it is as peculiar of behavior to wear a plain cover over fancy clothes... quality person choose as if not bright clothes, yet brightness rules his life... tiny person, their way is as if exhibiting bright, but have no inner light.
Jun: Bad pattern... there is a story of some old city people, suffering of mind... sometimes they wear their inner garments on the outside of their outer garments... the pattern is wrong... bad... the pattern, of how clothes are worn, is judged proper or bad... so yes, wearing a cheap garment over an expensive garment, that would also be an act that is irrational.
De: Also, a parallel of how some people put on fancy clothes, the people pretending themselves to be important because of the style of clothes... each way of man has its own costume... black robes, white robes, red robes, orange robes, brown robes, knee-length jackets, suits... each group has their own costume... some people dress fancy, believing that their clothes somehow make the people important and superior within their group... to us, the behavior is as wrong and as suffering of mind as the old people wearing their clothes wrong of pattern...
Jun: And that would also place us within a similar behavior if we began to wear our own costumes... the style of clothing, it would be pretentious... of purposefully wearing a certain patterning of clothes, our living a way that holds a belief that the clothes are themselves the measure of our inner qualities. Not good...
De: No... not good at all. I want to dress cleanly, rationally, with politeness and modesty... to do outwardly, without distracting from what is inward.
Jun: Funny, we have as if a zeal to not be too zealous!
De: Ha! Yes...