FEATURE - NOURISHMENT OF READING

AUTHOR_Yan Lam/Yvonne Yu　PHOTOS_COURTESY OF THE INTERVIEWEES

Su Shi, a noted poet in the Northern Song Dynasty, once revealed the difference in readers’ spiritual outlook, saying that “I’ve never worn exquisite clothes for my entire life, as I have the knowledge to make myself etiquette.”1 Even if a poor scholar is clad in rough linen clothes, his habit of reading makes his temperament distinct. In addition, from oracle bones to bamboo slips to modern paper books and e-books, different media keep different knowledge, and yet the nature of reading has remained unchanged, and people’s longing for spiritual replenishment has always been the same.

Thanks to reading, our horizons are expanded, our minds are improved, and our hearts are satisfied.

Note 1: Quoted from Su Shi’s poem “Farewell to Dong Chuan.”

Words of parents are their children’s preliminary understandings of the world. Good communication not only achieves a good parent-child relationship, but it also enables children to grow up confidently. “Parents are the first and the most important teachers of their children, affecting their growth in all respects,” said Yin Jianli, a famous Chinese educationalist and writer.

It is easier said than done, especially when parents talk to their children in a tone of authority. Some children are afraid of authority, hence they obey their parents. Some others like to challenge authority, thus they disobey their parents. Parents may also label obedient children as good ones. Yet communication between parents and children are neither telling nor being told. What children need is understanding, so it is imperative to learn how to treat children as equal individuals, and listen to their voices. Yin Jianli, who has been engaged in education for many years, believes that “reading” is an ideal communication and education tool, and a medium for parents and children to establish a healthy relationship. Being exposed to a rich social life and many wisdom speaks from reading, enables children to share countless fruits of thinking, which is conducive to them both intellectually and emotionally. “In the current era featuring a flood of information and media, parents need to consciously foster their children’s reading hobbies, and introduce books into their children’s lives early, so that they can lead an early life of spiritual prosperity matched with material richness. This is crucial to their lives. To make children fall in love with reading is to give them a considerable amount of wealth, so that they can benefit from it for the rest of their lives,” added Yin Jianli.

Good Mom Is Better Than Good Teacher, an educational book published by Yin Jianli in 2009, has seen its sales reach eight million so far. The book summarizes her educational experience of over a decade. Combined with Chinese traditional Confucianism, Taoism and western pedagogy, the book states classical educational thoughts in a simple and easy-to-understand manner. In her book, she writes that “Children lie for two reasons: one is the influence of adults, and the other is pressure,” and this is also due to a lack of mutual understanding. Therefore, she suggests that parents should try their best to provide love, freedom, reading and a role model as they grow up, as these all help their children develop a healthy personality. If parents can perform as a role model, their children will certainly become excellent.

Chang Hio Lou, a girl from Macao who embarked on a trip around the world in 2017, spent 180 days visiting 55 cities in 22 countries. After experiencing varied cultures, she wrote her first book Seek Within concerning growth. “Initially, I intended to do research for a tourism experience APP, but when I came back, the program eventually failed due to financial reasons. At that time, I felt at a loss; all of a sudden, my life seemed disoriented,” said a smiling Chang Hio Lou.

Later, at the invitation of a friend, she went to Bali to study yoga. This time she did not learn stretching movements as she previously did, but sat there listening to the teacher explain the philosophy of yoga. “At that moment, it suddenly occurred to me that I met my teacher and did my favorite yoga here, like it was meant to be. Everything was related. It turns out that the answer I have been looking for comes from within,” said Chang Hio Lou. “In addition, I would like to use my own experience to tell youngsters not to harbor illusions about traveling around the world, and not to assume that all life problems can be solved from the outside. In fact, the ultimate answer lies in your mind. Only by constantly improving yourself will answers and opportunities emerge.” This also made her embark on the journey of studying yoga, and in the end she became a yoga instructor, physical, mental and spiritual mentor, helping people to face their inner mind and seek their own answers.

Chang Hio Lou enjoys her job as a yoga instructor as she can make everyone healthy, but more importantly, she can share her life experience and yoga philosophy directly with people. This year she accepted a new challenge, which is working with different artists to bring together a project that integrates art, technology, and meditation at the Macao City Fringe Festival. “This is a very interesting project, where audience members strike singing bowls and meditate in a space with the smell of nature, and through technology, they can also see their brainwave activity during meditation,” said Chang Hio Lou. “Meanwhile, I also hope to tell everyone through this activity that meditation is not just something for the elderly; instead, it is suitable for everyone. As modern people live and work under piling pressure, meditation can help them relax minds and release stress, thus having clearer minds and understanding who they are.”

Chang Hio Lou invites her audience to a state of meditation through singing bowls.

Zhang Defen, who is from Taiwan and now living in Beijing, is worthy of the title of queen of personal development books in the Chinese-speaking world. In January 2020, she revised her three works, adding full-color illustrations by Taiwanese illustrator Enzo, and compiled them into a trilogy set: Meet Your Manifesting Self, Live A Brand New Life, and Meet The Unknown Self. Any random page is full of golden words, which will be understood in different ways at different stages of life, acting as daily nutrients for readers’ souls.

Today, Zhang Defen has another identity: owner of the official WeChat account “tefenchangpublic” with over 10 million followers. “Tefenchangpublic” carries various “tasks” of caring for souls, and readers can acquire the knowledge of spiritual growth through multi-channel operations of new media in a more timely manner, including live streaming, online paid courses, and offline workshops. All currently popular trends are covered here. At end-2020, the account launched the “Firefly Project” of great social significance, dedicated to the selection and training of 1,000 psychological educators good at written and oral expression within three years. This project aims to “help 300 million women in China achieve self-growth,” making “previously feeble soul soothers” feasible and practical.

Turning from a well-known Taiwanese anchor into a spiritual mentor and writer, Zhang Defen believes that extensive reading, especially reading works on the body, mind and spirit, is the cornerstone of her career for the rest of her life. “The writer I admire most in the mind-body-spirit genre is the American spiritual mentor Jed McKenna. As he mentioned in Jed McKenna’s Theory of Everything: The Enlightened Perspective, to what extent we are willing to surrender and weaken ourselves will determine to what extent we can be led, taught and nourished by such wisdom that illuminates everything. Keep a low profile and lower your expectations and you will find enlightenment awaits you on the way.” Zhang Defen, whose spirituality has reached an unattainable height in the eyes of others, always reminds herself to remain humble, “I find myself real and brave.” She repeatedly mentions being real. To live the poetic life mentioned by Zhang Defen, the first thing to do is “find the inner self.” Only by facing the innermost being can you finally overcome all obstacles and accomplish spiritual transformation after nourishment.