When we say somebody “sees red,” we mean they suddenly become extremely angry. Why red? Perhaps because people’s vision can actually take on a red tinge when they fly into a rage; they have a “sudden rush of blood to the head,” and the blood lends its color to their vision. There is another explanation […]
祖師廟
The Third Rebuilding of Sanxia’s Zushih Temple 三峽清水祖師廟的 第三次重建 New Taipei City’s Sanxia Zushih Temple, known as the “palace of oriental art,” is known for its traditional appeal and its unique carvings and decoration.The initial plans to build the temple stretch back to the Qing dynasty. It was rebuilt twice during the 19th […]
活用成語:朱門酒肉臭,路有凍死骨
Within the vermilion gates, the smell of wine and meat On the streets outside, frozen bones Prosperity and emaciation are side by side I am far too saddened to speak Du Fu (712AD-770AD) was an important realist poet of the Tang dynasty. He is known as a “poet sage.” His poems are known for their […]
三峽書法
This is a photo of what appears to be a family, two women, possibly sisters, and two children, a boy and a girl. It’s possible the group is two mothers and their children. Just behind the group stands another woman, who may well be the mother of one of the women, or both. […]
活用成語:螳臂擋車
The “praying” mantis has a triangular head, bulging eyes, and two serrated, very developed forelimbs. A predator, in the insect world it is probably very intimidating. It is still an insect, however, and relatively weak compared to other animals. When it comes across an animal that is stronger than it is, it should be […]
修理鐵馬
Immediately parallel to the River Ganges within the city of Varanasi is a stretch of road lined with buildings of final grandeur and disrepair, a mine of material for street photography. I walked down this street on several occasions during a trip to India in 2013, looking out for interesting scenes to evolve. These two […]
活用成語:中箭落馬
The Chinese idiom 中箭落馬 literally means when a rider on horseback is struck by an arrow and falls from his horse. There are many instances of it in Chinese literature. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which recounts the history of a period of almost 100 years between the end of the Eastern Han […]
chess
To me, there is something quite timeless about this photo. Had I not taken it myself, I could perhaps have been persuaded that it had been taken in the 1950s or 1960s. Two men are playing chess in the street, surrounded by three onlookers. The relationships between the men are unknown, but they […]
活用成語:同舟共濟
Sun Wu, also known by the honorific titles Sunzi, Master Sun Wu, and the Sage of War, was a famous military strategist from the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. Sunzi wrote the Art of War, a work in 13 chapters that is now revered by military strategists and is the most internationally renowned […]
活用成語:僧多粥少
僧多粥少 originates from the late Ming or early Qing dynasty novel The Story of a Marital Fate to Awaken the World by Xizhou Sheng (a pen name). The word「僧」means monk; 「粥」is gruel, or congee, a staple food for monks. The idiom, then, means that there are too many monks to feed, and not enough food […]