RoR: Forum

Luther,
This quote is very much in line with traditional Chinese wisdom. Is the original quote in Chinese? And am I suppose to know who Lin Yuting is?

Post 1

Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 4:32pm

Hong,

I read it somewhere, perhaps in an ISO 9000 or personnel newsletter, and liked it enough to save it. I scanned my personal documents today and decided this one had enough value to share with SOLO. I actually have no idea who Lin Yutang is.

People who know me and who have seen my office will tell you I definitely eliminate the nonessentials. I draw on the Japanese Kaizen "Five S" system. I no longer have the original five Japanese "S" words on file, but the Americans have absorbed it culturally as "Sorting, Sweeping, Simplifying, Standardizing, Self-Discipline."

Luke Setzer

(Edited by Luther Setzer on 12/16, 4:36pm)

Post 2

Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 7:06pm

Hong, Luther,

I think you mean ��ã� pronounced as Lin2 Yu3Tang2 in Mandarin. He is pretty well-known. For a short description of him see:

In English: http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/L/LinYutan.html
In Chinese: http://www.xys.org/xys/ebooks/literature/prose/Lin-Yutang/lyt-bio.txt

Post 3

Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 7:47pm

Thanks, JJ. Of course I know about him, the famous Western educated Chinese scholar. Thanks for the link.

Post 4

Friday, December 17, 2004 - 9:53am

Hong, JJ, Luther. Interesting for me to come across this thread. Coincidentally, I am reading in spurts, "The Importance of Living" by Lin Yu Tang, and am enjoying it tremendously.

John

Post 5

Friday, December 17, 2004 - 10:25am

"Focus on your one purpose." -- Japanese motto familiar to martial arts people.

Post 6

Saturday, December 18, 2004 - 6:40am

John, I envy you. I haven't systematically read any of Lin Yutang's work, just some of his short essays and quotations. They sound heavenly.

I think the above quote shows the Daoist influence in Lin Yutang. An important concept in Daoism is Wu Wei, meaning "no action" or "to do nothing". It doesn't mean that you really don't do anything, but that you do things in such a way that's perfect in tune with nature's law, and therefore it would appears effortless.

The application of this to government ("To govern by doing nothing") is particularly enlightening:

"Bad government people hate; good government people love; the most supreme government though, people don't even realize it exists!"

(Perhaps JJ can point out where exactly this saying come from? My classical Chinese is shamefully rusty).

This quote does not advocate anarchism, but dreams of a perfect synergy between government's management and people's will. We can sometime see this realized at certain level of management. A good manager/supervisor need to motivate his people. A even better manager would somehow let people motivate themselves. The style of my last supervisor is very close to this state.

Post 7

Saturday, December 18, 2004 - 12:52pm

Hong,
I am enjoying his work for its insight into Chinese philosophical/spiritual culture. I will be starting to learn the "official" spoken language (Mandarin) soon, though at 40 I am getting around to a second language (not counting the very little French I know)rather late.

John

Post 8

Saturday, December 18, 2004 - 1:15pm