Why the silk text is harder — and truer — than the popular version
In 1973, excavators at Mawangdui opened a tomb that had been sealed for roughly two thousand years. Among the contents were two copies of a text we thought we knew, written on silk.
What “wu wei” actually asks of a working person
Wu wei is usually translated as non-action, which makes it sound like advice to do nothing. That reading is comfortable and wrong.
Cinnabar, mercury, and how to read a safety report
Cinnabar is mercury sulfide. That sentence is the beginning of every honest conversation about it, and the reason we do not sell cinnabar to be worn against the skin.
Choosing a teapot that will last twenty years
Two pots can look identical and behave completely differently over a decade. The difference is the clay and the finish.
Incense was the clock before the clock
Before mechanical clocks, a stick of incense was a unit of time. Not metaphorically — incense clocks with measured trails were used to time examinations, meditation periods and night watches.
Keeping a hand-written practice while working full time
The obstacle is not time. Fifteen minutes is available to almost anyone. The obstacle is that hand-writing has no output — nothing to show, nothing to send, nothing to justify.