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AmoyMagic-- Travel , Resident and Business Guide to Xiamen and Fujian
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Zhangzhou  changchow Zhangzhou
Discover Quanzhou, ancient start of maritime silk route ( or Zaytun Zaitun Zaiton ) from which Marco Polo sailed,  Sinbad the Arab visited.  ChinchewQuanzhou Wuyi Mountain Guide Zhuxi  tea Wuyi
Favorite Fujian tourist sites , in order: Xiamen Quanzhou Longyan Hakka earthen houses Wuyi mountain Ningde
#1Fujian Sites!
Photographs of Fuhken places like Zhangzhou, Longyan, Ningde, Sanming, Wuyi Mountain
Fujian Foto Album
Guidebooks about Fujian and Xiamen Fujian Adventure Discover Quanzhou Discover Gulangyu Magic Fujian etc.Books on Fujian
Letters from AmoyMagic ReadersReaders'Letters

Ningde Taimu Mountain ZhouningNingde Zhouning Carp VillageZhouning
Longyan Yongding Hakka round houses earthen architectureLongyan Sanming Scenic Wonderland Mingxi Gem bed rubies Sanming

Putian Fujian Xianyou Mazu TemplePutian Fujian covered wooden bridgesBridges
Xiamen travel agents and ticketing for trains, planes and automobiles
Travel Info,
Hakka Earthen architecture Hakka Roundhouses

Xiamen Travel Agents and Tour Guides English SpeakingTravel Agents

MISC. LINKS
Historical and Modern Amoy People -- Colorful Characters!Amoy People! amoy mission missionaries
Darwinian Driving Survival of the Fastest DarwinDarwin Driving
Darwin Chinese Driving Survival of fastest
South China Tigers -- our Amoy Kitty CatsAmoy Tigers
Chinese inventions compass gunpowder printing paper zoos newspaper etc.Chinese Inventions
1994 80 day 40,000 km drive to Tibet & backTibet in 80 Daysforty thousand kilometer drive around China
Chinese vampires xi xue guiAmoy Vampires! 
Dethroned Perils of Chinese Potty ToiletDethroned!
Chinese bathrooms
Writings by Bill Brown about life in China,  Fukien Xiamen etc. Includes 80 Day Drive to Tibet  Darwinian Driving Misc.Writings
Latest news tips ideas updatesLatest News
OpiumWars short history and background of the Opium Wars between China Britain Europe missionaries battle against opium addiction etc.Lord of Opium
Kite Flying in Xiamen ChinaBack to Main Page

Chinese Kung Fu and Martial Arts Korean Tae Kwon Do  Japanese JujitsuMartial arts Chinese Kung FuKung Fu

AmoyMagic--Guide to Xiamen & Fujian
Copyright 2001-7 by Sue Brown & Dr. Bill Help Build an online  community for foreigners.  Join the Xiamen Guide forumOrder Books Common Talk Xiamen Dailys Weekly English SupplementXiamenguide Forum Guide to Xiamen and Fujian business tourism history culture cuisine entertainment investment Guide to Xiamen hsiamen amoy fuhken fukien
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Confucius and Confusionism
Tong'an Links Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Tong'an Main PageIllustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Su Song--Tong'an's Renaissance Man Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Tong'an Museum Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Matang Village--Xiamen's #1 Village  Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Philosopher Zhuxi Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Fujian Firewalkers Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Confucius & Confusionism Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Parks & Attractions

Taoist-Confucian Temple Given that Taoism and Confucianism, two of China¡¯s main religions, are 180 degrees apart in philosophy, it¡¯s surprising that Dadeng Island has a temple where pilgrims manage to worship both! (Confusionism, perhaps? A bilingual Quanzhou map actually shows a "Confusionism Temple" in Anxi!)

How Confucius Got That Way
  Unlike Confucianism, which emphasizes absolute obedience, conformity, standards, and education to preserve them, Taoism is the Montessori approach to enlightenment. Taoism means ¡°The Way¡± (New Testament Christianity was also called ¡°The Way¡±), and is based on the teachings of Lao Tzu in 6th Century B.C. China. But with Taoism the way is relative for there are no standards for proper behavior or right and wrong. All is relative. The emphasis is individual freedom, loose government, and mystical experience.

Not surprisingly, the powers that be preferred Confucius to Lao Tzu--though not in his own lifetime.
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Confucius employed his youth mastering poetry and history classics, and the six arts (ritual, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy and arithmetic). Then in his 30s, he became a teacher and devoted his life to insuring that Chinese for the next 3000 years followed suit.

Confucius humbly claimed that he was an ordinary man of ordinary intellect, so all people could follow his lead in seeking perfection through study and conformity to society. The problem was that no one wanted to follow his lead because he was usually jobless, homeless, and half-starved.

Confucius¡¯ failures often ate at him. He once said, ¡°It is these things that cause me concern: failure to cultivate virtue, failure to explore in depth what I have learned, inability to do what I know is right, and inability to reform myself when I have defects.¡±
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I think what really ate at him was his wife, because she too was usually homeless and half-starved ¨C not exactly choice ingredients in the immortal¡¯s elixir of marital bliss.

While claiming to be just one of the boys, the unemployed Confucius also said he was unstoppable and immortal until his heavenly mandate was completed. ¡°If Heaven does not intend this culture to be destroyed, then what can the men of K¡¯uang do to me?¡±

Not much, except to keep him unemployed. So at age 56 he left the inhospitable leaders of Lu, who still weren¡¯t hiring, and spent the next 12 years traveling about with a slowly growing following. He returned home at age 67 and died 6 years later, leaving behind 3,000 disciples who were usually jobless, homeless and half-starved. But they kept alive the teachings dear to 2400 years of imperial hearts.

Confucians taught that moral community begins by cleaning up one¡¯s own backyard (and ignoring the emperor¡¯s). The foundation of society is filial piety. Obedience to father and elders and magistrates and emperor guarantees social order, stability, and peace; deviations of any kind insure anarchy.
They learned that lesson only too well.
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A few centuries back, a young man saw a girl drowning in a river. He debated whether or not to save her because society forbade young men, under penalty of death, from touching young women. In the end he leaped into the raging torrent, rescued her, and was promptly arrested. The magistrate said, ¡°Saving life is good, but arbitrarily disobeying society¡¯s rules is not. You will not be killed, but for your dangerous precedent, you are banished for life.¡±

Not much of a concession; for Chinese, banishment is worse than death.

Emperors have always loved Confucius¡¯s emphasis on obedience, but his warning that revolution would topple unjust governments never went over well. In 231 B.C., the emperor tried to eliminate Confucius¡¯ influence by destroying every book in China. But someone missed a few volumes. Confucians crawled back out of the woodwork, regained the upper hand, and have been stacking China¡¯s deck ever since (while being careful to remove all the wild cards).


Tong'an Links Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Tong'an Main PageIllustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Su Song--Tong'an's Renaissance Man Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Tong'an Museum Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Matang Village--Xiamen's #1 Village  Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Philosopher Zhuxi
Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Fujian Firewalkers Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Confucius & Confusionism
Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Parks & Attractions


TRAVEL LINKS Hakka Earthen architecture Favorite Fujian Sites Photographs of Fuhken places like Zhangzhou, Longyan, Ningde, Sanming, Wuyi MountainFujian Foto Album AmoyMagic-- Travel , Resident and Business Guide to Xiamen and FujianXiamen Gulangyu Kulangyu Kolongsoo Kolongsu KulongsuGulangyu Guide to Fukien Fuhken Fujian Guides Mystic Quanzhou -- the fabled port of Zayton ( or Zaytun Zaitun Zaiton ) from which Marco Polo sailed,  Sinbad the Arab visited.  ChinchewQuanzhou Zhangzhou  changchow Zhangzhou Longyan Yongding Liancheng Changting Amoy Tigers LianchengLongyan Wuyi Mountain Guide Zhuxi  tea Wuyi Mtn Ningde Taimu Mountain ZhouningNingde Putian Fujian Xianyou Mazu TemplePutian Sanming Scenic Wonderland Mingxi Gem bed rubies Sanming Zhouning Carp VillageZhouning Ningde's Taimu MountainTaimu Mtn. Hakka Earthen architecture Roundhouses Fujian covered wooden bridgesBridges Hakka Earthen architecture Jiangxi Hakka Earthen architecture Guilin Help Build an online  community for foreigners.  Join the Xiamen Guide forumOrder Books Letters from AmoyMagic ReadersReaders' Letters      New: Amoy Vampires!     

Gulangyu Kulangyu Kolongsoo Kolongsu Kulongsu
Gulangyu

Guide to Xiamen University Historic and modern, including departments -- Arts Science computers mathematics accounting management law department etc.Xiamen Univ

Mystic Quanzhou -- the fabled port of Zayton ( or Zaytun Zaitun Zaiton ) from which Marco Polo sailed,  Sinbad the Arab visited.  Chinchew
Quanzhou

AmoyMagic-- Travel , Resident and Business Guide to Xiamen and Fujian
XiamenGuide


Fujian Adv

Guide to Fukien Fuhken  Bilingual Chinese English Parallel with MP3 CDFujianGuide

Click to e-mail Dr. Bill Brown or Susan BrownClick to E-mail Email address for Bill and Sue Brown Letters from AmoyMagic ReadersReaders'Letters
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DAILY LINKS
Frequently Asked Questions about Xiamen andFujianFAQs Questions?
Info on apartments or houses in Xiamen, real estate agentsReal Estate
Xiamen Shopping guide malls supermarketsShopping Download  Xiamen MapsMaps
Xiamen BookstoresBookstores
Train rail schedule for Xiamen, fukien Trains Amoy Bus ScheduleBusses
Car rental rent a car or van with driver in xiamen and fujianCar Rental

Xiamen hotels guesthouses hostels Hotels English News Services sources in Xiamen Fujian ChinaNews (CT)
Doctors Dentists Hospitals Clinics in Xiamen Jimei and Tong'an Medical & Dental
Xiamen YMCA and YWCAYMCA Volunteer! Xiamen International Christian Fellowship Expat Nondenominational interdenominational
Xiamen International Christian FellowshipXICF Fellowship 
Xiamen Churches Protestant Catholic Seventh Day Adventist Amoy Mission Missionaries AbeelChurches Islamic Muslim Mosques Ashab Quanzhou Damascus Fuzhou Xiamen
Xiamen and Fujian Buddhist Taoist Confucian Temples Mazu Manichean Hindu IslamicTemplesXiamen and Fujian Temples and Mosques  Buddhism Confucian Taoism Taoist Buddhism Mazu Matsu Meizhou IslandXiamen and Fujian  Mosques Islamic Muslim Ashab Mosque Quanzhou Fuzhou  Mohammed Disciples DamascusMosque

Xiamen Expat Association Welcome SupportExpat Groups
Hire a Maid Household help servant baomu amah etc.Maids Xiamen Emergency and Frequently used telephone numbersPhone #s

EDUCATION
Xiamen University GuideXiamen University
Xiamen International School  International Baccalaureate ProgramXIS(Int'l School)
Study Mandarin Chinese or Minnan Dialect at Xiamen University  or with private tutorStudy Mandarin
 
China Studies Program Xiamen University  Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Washington D.C. Jay LundeliusCSP(China Studies)
Piano Island Music Events Xiamen Philharmonic OrchestraLibrary Xiamen Museum Library Science Center  World's largest organ museum Asia's largest piano museum China's first anthropology museum Sino Eurolpean art museum etc.Museums
History of Amoy Changchow Chinchew Zaiton Fukien etc.History
DINING  Xiamen Tea Houses Minnan tea culture minnan tea ceremonyTea Houses
Xiamen restaurants dining western and Chinese cuisineRestaurants Xiamen Asian restaurants -- Singapore Thailand Thai Malaysian  Japanese Korean PhilippineAsian
Xiamen Vegetarian cuisine Nanputuo Temple Seventh Day Adventist Health foodVeggie Xiamen Restaurants Fast Food McDonalds KFC Kentucky Fried Chicken Pizza Hut Burger King (just kidding!) Cafes Coffee shopsJunk Food
Xiamen restaurants dining western and Chinese cuisineChinese Xiamen Italian Restaurants -- over 40!  Pizza pasta cheeseItalian
Western (Internationall) Cuisine in XiamenInternationalAlien visa info -- Americans, Europeans E.T. Outer space visitors
Chinese visa and passport informationVisas 4 aliens
RECREATION
Hakka Earthen architecture Massage!
Hakka Earthen architecture Beaches Kite Flying in Xiamen ChinaFly Kites
Sports -- Golf, Badminton Tennis Bowling Paint BallSports Xiamen Boardwalk One of the most beautiful boardwalks in China or anywhere else.  Along the Island Ring road over 6km long so far.Boardwalk
Xiamen Parks, recreation, hiking boardwalk etcParks Xiamen Museum Library Science Center etcPets
Bird watching in Xiamen Amoy  SwinhoeBirdwatching
Martial arts Chinese Kung FuKung Fu Hiking around Xiamen BushwalksHiking
Piano Island Music Events Xiamen Philharmonic OrchestraMusic Events
Xiamen Theaters cinema movies houses Cinema 
Chinese festivals and culture minnanFestival&Culture
Chinese Jokes Humor Funny China photosHumor&Chinese Jokes Humor Funny China photosFun Fotosfunny photos of China
BUSINESS
Doing Business Invest in Xiamen Fujian ChinaDoing Business
Work or teach in Xiamen, Quanzhou or other Fujian schools and universities  English French RussianJobs!(teach/work)
Hire permanent or temporary workers labor craftsmen maids tutorsHire Workers
Foreign Companies in Xiamen Joint Ventures Foreign Companies
China International Fair for Investment and Trade and Cross Straits Exchanges
CIFIT (Trade Fair)
Common Talk Xiamen Dailys Weekly English SupplementMTS(Translation)

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