Welcome to our website!

This website is designed to cover a broad range of subjects using a condensed yet informative approach -- an approach that is suitable for busy persons with diverse interests. We also realize that some like to gain more in-depth knowledge of a particular subject. Thus, this site also includes documents, such as books, reports, and papers, for visitors to download to their computers so they can read them at their leisure. 

Many books on this site were published more than half a century ago. The authors of these books were recognized experts in their fields. Their writing and insight are invaluable. It is a joy to read their works and learn from them. Most of these scholarly books are out-of-print. They are hard to find anywhere and not available for purchase even if one is willing to pay lots of money for them. Thus, we specifically uploaded them so our visitors can enjoy the reading (file sizes bigger than 10 MB are indicated because some visitors may be reluctant to open large files).

The development of this site was inspired by an ancient Chinese story written more than one thousand five hundred years ago by Tao Yuan Ming. The author told a story of a fisherman’s boat following a stream and reached a beautiful Shangri-la. Residents there lived happily and were friendly to the fisherman, a visitor to their land.

We believe that there is a Shangri-la and we can find it using a boat of knowledge. We hope this site can assist the efforts to acquire knowledge to build the boat. After reaching there, everyone can help to build a bigger and better Shangri-la. (Note: currently only a small portion of this website is completed; more contents will be added in the future.)

Below is an English translation of the ancient story by Rick Davis and David Steelman:

 

Peach Blossom Shangri-La

During the Taiyuan era of the Jin Dynasty there was a man of Wuling who made his living as a fisherman. Once while following a stream he forgot how far he had gone. He suddenly came to a grove of blossoming peach trees. It lined both banks for several hundred paces and included not a single other kind of tree. Petals of the dazzling and fragrant blossoms were falling everywhere in profusion. Thinking this place highly unusual, the fisherman advanced once again in wanting to see how far it went.

The peach trees stopped at the stream's source, where the fisherman came to a mountain with a small opening through which it seemed he could see light. Leaving his boat, he entered the opening. At first it was so narrow that he could barely pass, but after advancing a short distance it suddenly opened up to reveal a broad, flat area with imposing houses, good fields, beautiful ponds, mulberry trees, bamboo, and the like. The fisherman saw paths extending among the fields in all directions, and could hear the sounds of chickens and dogs. Men and women working in the fields all wore clothing that looked like that of foreign lands. The elderly and children all seemed to be happy and enjoying themselves.

The people were amazed to see the fisherman, and they asked him from where he had come. He told them in detail, then the people invited him to their home, set out wine, butchered a chicken, and prepared a meal. Other villagers heard about the fisherman, and they all came to ask him questions. Then the villagers told him, "To avoid the chaos of war during the Qin Dynasty, our ancestors brought their families and villagers to this isolated place and never left it, so we've had no contact with the outside world." They asked the fisherman what the present reign was. They were not even aware of the Han Dynasty, let alone the Wei and Jin. The fisherman told them everything he knew in great detail, and the villagers were amazed and heaved sighs. Then other villagers also invited the fisherman to their homes, where they gave him food and drink. After several days there, the fisherman bid farewell, at which time some villagers told him, "It's not worth telling people on the outside about us."

The fisherman exited through the opening, found his boat, and retraced his route while leaving markers to find this place again. Upon his arrival at the prefecture town he went to the prefect and told him what had happened. The prefect immediately sent a person to follow the fisherman and look for the trail markers, but they got lost and never found the way.

Liu Ziji of Nanyang was a person of noble character. When he heard this story he was happy and planned to visit the Shangri-la, but he died of illness before he could accomplish it. After that no one else ever looked for the place.

 

(Chinese name and author: 桃花源記 --  陶淵明作)

 * Banner credit: Painting on Long Corridor, Summer Palace, Beijing

  

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